Yes. I think we can essentially nerd-snipe academics. Maybe get a bunch of social scientists and have a mini-conference about what other EA researchers are doing: say AI governance, forecasting, etc.
It gives them a network, an idea of what others are doing, and accelerated intro into EA.
Does seem like the ROI could be large.
I think it’s a cool idea.
One thing that comes to mind that I have noticed is many academics aren’t aware of EA but I think they would be on board. Many of these academics have time (often tenured), resources (to help EA students), and networks. I wonder if there’s a way of targeting/appealing to this demographic.
I’m pretty certain they’ll get back to you soon. If not, send a follow-up email.
Was recently just complaining about this—great post.
I like the post but I’m not entirely convinced. Even if these are optional classes to pad your degree out, you’d have to think taking history classes adds more value than all other potential options. I don’t entirely believe that’s the case even if I agree with many of your points in the post.
Trying my luck here but would I also be able to get funds for academic projects (my research interests are in Metascience/Innovation/Growth)?
That’s the one! OP, I think some version of this is definitely worth implementing/revival. I often share various EA articles on my personal twitter feed, and I know people (for example Stefan Schubert) who share EA articles, which captures an audience (that find the content interesting/engaging) that do not always read the EAF regularly.
I thought something like this already existed but I could be mistaken.
Will check some of these out. Not sure if this fits your criteria but a personal favourite is the documentary about Aaron Swartz.
Thanks for this—one of my favourite blogs!
Few questions (not all directly related to the job, so feel free to skip all/any of them):
How do you think blogging compares to other careers available to you in terms of impact?
Why not set up a Patreon (I’m aware you’ve got some grants)?
Why remain pseudonymous?
Why the name ADS?
“For some projects, a small adjustment could unlock huge academic value.” Would you be able to provide examples please?
Good idea! May be worth reaching out to the LSE Econ PhD programme (I see you’re attending!), who trialled something similar last year for underrepresented backgrounds (in order to get some feedback on what applicants want).
I think a good addition to this would be providing help to people applying for pre-docs as well, given how important they have become in the profession.
I should have added the following statement. If anyone would like a quick chat about researching cousin marriage, feel free to message me.
Caveat: I’m still fairly new to the topic (there’s a lot of non-econ literature) but can try to help wherever possible.
I’m currently actively working on this in my PhD (I’m an Economist), which developed from one of my pre-PhD courses. I have a few different ideas and am currently applying for funding for them. Truthfully, this is not one of my core research interests but I think it’s relatively fertile ground for research/publication and I have some nice co-authors that I’m working with, so I don’t have to devote too much time to the topic.
A few points:
The negative biological effects seem to be severe where there is persistent cousin marriage. Otherwise it seems that the impact may not be too bad.
Often the social benefits of consanguinity outweigh the biological disadvantages, particularly in rural regions. For example, some studies seem to show a reduction in domestic violence, greater female autonomy, closer family relations, better retirement etc.
Many of the existing studies are not particularly empirically sound. Lots of selection bias, poor stats, and questionable IVs.
Schulz et al. suggest there’s a link between reducing cousin marriage and democracy, which I find quite interesting (although some have critiqued this). There may also be a relationship between cousin marriage and lower long-run economic growth.
There’s some interesting work being done on potential interventions. For example, the link between education and cousin marriage and the link between a wealth shock and choice of spouse. My paper is proposing an intervention as well.
I strongly dislike this and think it gives off the wrong impression about the purpose of the Hotel.
Briefly:
I like the idea
Think it will work
Also like the idea of using Metaculus to forecast this
In Economics, there’s an account that does this quite well, with a slightly different approach but a somewhat similar aim. It tweets economics pre-doc and RA positions. However, I think people tag the account, and then it gets re-tweeted. Here’s the handle: https://twitter.com/econ_ra
Does this help (from the FAQs? “The lottery is administered by the Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA). The Centre for Effective Altruism is a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1149828) and a registered 501(c)(3) Exempt Organization in the USA (EIN 47-1988398). An entry to the lottery is a donation to CEA; CEA will regrant the lottery money, based on the recommendation of the lottery winner.
All grants made are at CEA’s sole discretion. This is a condition of CEA’s status as a tax-deductible non-profit (both in the UK and the US). Of course, CEA will make a good faith effort to act on the recommendation of the winning donor, but it is important to understand that this does not constitute a binding contract, and the final decision rests with CEA.
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Broadly speaking, CEA should be able to regrant to any fund or organization on listed on Effective Altruism Funds, as well as nearly all other registered non-profit organizations in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Europe, and possibly other jurisdictions (assuming their organizational purposes don’t contravene CEA’s charitable objects, and we can verify their non-profit status).
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What are the intersections between this and EA focused research? Would love to see some examples if you (or anyone else) has any.