I should clarify—I don’t mean a small amount of work, but a small conceptual adjustment. The example I give in the post is to adjust from fully addressing a specific application to partially addressing a more general question. And to do so in a way that is hopefully intellectually stimulating to other researchers.
In my own work, using a consumer intertemporal optimisation model, I’ve tried to calculate the optimal amount for humanity to spend now on mitigating existential risk. That is the sort of problem-solving question I’m talking about. A couple of possible ways forward for me: include multiple countries and explore the interactions between x-risk mitigation and global public good provision; or use the setting of existential risk to learn more about a particular type of utility function which someone pointed me to for that purpose.
“For some projects, a small adjustment could unlock huge academic value.” Would you be able to provide examples please?
I should clarify—I don’t mean a small amount of work, but a small conceptual adjustment. The example I give in the post is to adjust from fully addressing a specific application to partially addressing a more general question. And to do so in a way that is hopefully intellectually stimulating to other researchers.
In my own work, using a consumer intertemporal optimisation model, I’ve tried to calculate the optimal amount for humanity to spend now on mitigating existential risk. That is the sort of problem-solving question I’m talking about. A couple of possible ways forward for me: include multiple countries and explore the interactions between x-risk mitigation and global public good provision; or use the setting of existential risk to learn more about a particular type of utility function which someone pointed me to for that purpose.