Yeah great question! There were some similarities and differences from our normal research process
Similarities
We predominantly looked for ideas where there were good feedback loops to measure the impact of the charity and the good that it was doing
Our research process largely worked and could be adapted to biosecurity as a cause area
We considered the potential of the negative impact of our ideas, and ideas where this was more likely were far less likely to pass through our research stages
Differences
We had to very seriously consider information hazards in our idea, which is not a consideration we had given much weight on or considered at all for other cause areas
Had to rely a bit more on expert opinion and ‘lower’ quality forms of evidence like theoretic evidence, case studies
We had a lot more uncertainty about our cost-effectiveness analyses, since estimates vary a lot depending on priors about likelihood of future pandemics and how bad they could be; to an extent, these uncertainties were multiplicative, which made quantification particularly challenging
We had to coordinate and talk a lot more to EA biosecurity folk- the space is small and growing, and it was important to coordinate to make sure we were not duplicating something that was already happening in a way that might be harmful
We are happy to chat to anyone interested in biosecurity who might want to start a charity and wants to talk more about our research process and the ideas we are most excited about in this space
Yeah great question! There were some similarities and differences from our normal research process
Similarities
We predominantly looked for ideas where there were good feedback loops to measure the impact of the charity and the good that it was doing
Our research process largely worked and could be adapted to biosecurity as a cause area
We considered the potential of the negative impact of our ideas, and ideas where this was more likely were far less likely to pass through our research stages
Differences
We had to very seriously consider information hazards in our idea, which is not a consideration we had given much weight on or considered at all for other cause areas
Had to rely a bit more on expert opinion and ‘lower’ quality forms of evidence like theoretic evidence, case studies
We had a lot more uncertainty about our cost-effectiveness analyses, since estimates vary a lot depending on priors about likelihood of future pandemics and how bad they could be; to an extent, these uncertainties were multiplicative, which made quantification particularly challenging
We had to coordinate and talk a lot more to EA biosecurity folk- the space is small and growing, and it was important to coordinate to make sure we were not duplicating something that was already happening in a way that might be harmful
We are happy to chat to anyone interested in biosecurity who might want to start a charity and wants to talk more about our research process and the ideas we are most excited about in this space