I am a decision professional. My specialty is framing, modeling, and solving wicked problems. My passion is developing people and ideas. I have over 20 years’ experience in the private sector, mostly in the life sciences, and a keen interest in rational public policy. You can find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandrosola/.
Alejandro Sola
Karma: 48
I would talk about “correlations” more than “tradeoffs.” Reducing pollution, for example, will likely lead to lives that are both longer and happier.
I read somewhere that a big failure of the movement to reduce climate carbon emissions is its focus on climate change (which is a contentious issue despite the mass of evidence). However, reducing carbon emissions will also reduce air pollution, which kills thousands upon thousands even in the developed world. The benefits of lowering pollution are obvious, non-contentious, and don’t depend on climate models that most people do not understand. So why not campaign for clean air, and get global warming reduction as a collateral benefit?
In many cases, there is no consensus on what is morally excellent. Some parents believe it is morally excellent to subject their daughters to a cliterectomy; I beg to disagree. My workmate J. believes that hunting is morally neutral; my kids find it abhorrent.
Or there may be a disconnect between what you affirm to be morally excellent and what you feel to be morally excellent. I have a rough idea of how many lives I could save by depriving my kids of a college education and donating the proceeds to GiveWell, and yet I won’t do it (and would feel guilty if I did).