EA Newsletter: June 02, 2016

EA Newsletter header Hola,

Depending on where you are, it might not exactly be summer yet but we certainly are already looking forward to this year’s EA Global conference in early August. More info below!

There’s all sorts of exciting news to share with you this month, so why don’t you scroll down a bit to see what we’ve got..

The team

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Articles and Community Posts

“What causes, broadly defined, do you think the EA community is wrongly neglecting?” This is the question from a Facebook thread we think is extremely interesting. And here is it’s follow-up thread on which causes might be more tractable than people think. Do weigh in with your thoughts! (It’s Facebook after all.)

What does the typical person earn? Why should I give if the rich don't? Reach out for answers in these great posts brought to you by Giving What We Can.

We know you already know about GiveDirectly's basic income experiment. Here's a short report on its recent progress. By the way, this week Y Combinator also announced a basic income pilot experiment in Oakland, California. And just this weekend Switzerland will vote on a proposal to introduce a national basic income. Exciting times!

Should donors from developing countries give locally or internationally? How to act about your donations when outside of areas of relative wealth?

Cause prioritization is a core element of Effective Altruism. Check out Michael Dickens’ quantitative model for cause selection that comes along with a whole series of interesting posts of his.

Remember last month's report on global catastrophic risks by the Global Priorities Project? Check out 80,000 Hours' cause profile on extreme climate change.

June 1

Updates from EA Organizations

.impact

.impact hired Richenda Herzig to join its full-time focus projects team in Vancouver, which includes Tom Ash and Georgie Mallett. They welcome Facebook friend requests!

80,000 Hours

80k grew 100% over the last month, reaching 50 plan changes per month, which means that their ratio of costs-to-plan changes is down 6-fold to under £200. They carried out 3 workshops, including 2 in Hong Kong – their first-ever events in Asia. Finally, they made a new career planning tool. Check it out!

Animal Charity Evaluators

ACE interviewed investigative journalist Will Potter about the role of media and journalism in animal rights and social change. They also published a blog post on the prioritization of “key ideas” in animal advocacy, opened registration for the 2016 EAA Research Symposium, and hired a third researcher thanks to generous donations made over the past year.

Charity Entrepreneurship

Interested in a $500 cash prize? Charity Entrepreneurship challenges you to change their current top choice of intervention. Easy money, right?

Charity Science

Effective Legacies has arrived! Fill out a 15-minute form and finish with a professional, legally binding document that will honour your commitments if the unexpected happens.

Effective Altruism Foundation

The Effective Altruism Foundation has launched a democratic initiative in Switzerland, asking for 1% of the city of Zurich's budget to be given to cost-effective global poverty charities. There will be a binding popular vote among the 400,000 citizens, potentially leading to USD 80 million being donated to highly cost-effective charities each year. The initial media response has been very positive.

Foundational Research Institute

The Foundational Research Institute published their research agenda and room for more funding in the cause area of wild animal suffering.

Future of Humanity Institute

Nick Bostrom spoke to the US National Academies’ committee on human gene-editing research. Superintelligence was released in paperback. MIRI researchers visited for a week-long workshop. Stuart Armstrong co-published a paper with Google Deepmind on Interruptibility.

GiveWell

GiveWell published its detailed money moved and web traffic report for 2015. Last year, GiveWell tracked $110.1 million in donations to their recommended charities as a result of their research. GiveWell also wrote about their reservations about water quality interventions.

Giving What We Can

Are you wondering if the Giving What We Can pledge is the right way for you to make a difference? If you are, Giving What We Can have written a post just for you, answering the questions they hear most in conversions with effective altruists.

Global Priorities Project

Owen Cotton-Barratt gave evidence to the House of Commons on the social implications of AI, which you can watch or read the transcript of here on behalf of GPP, FHI, CSER, and FLI. They are continuing to prepare prototype projects in research effectiveness and political rationality.

Local Effective Altruism Network

All North American groups in the network have been contacted about attending and/or helping run EA events centred around giving games that’ll be happening at local secular groups, following an inter-organisational partnership with some large North American coalitions of these. Several are doing so over the coming year.

Open Philanthropy Project

As part of their History of Philanthropy Project, the Open Philanthropy Project published a case study on the founding and growth of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Sentience Politics

Over 300 participants discussed effective strategies to help all sentient beings at the Sentience Conference in Berlin. From now on, the conference will likely take place annually.

June 2

Other Announcements

Apply now for the 2016 edition of Effective Altruism Global, the fourth annual conference on EA. This year it’s taking place from August 5-7 at UC Berkeley. We can tell you from personal experience that the conference is full of interesting people, great talks and stimulating conversations. Fill out the short application if you think about going!

Has 80,000 Hours influenced how you think about your career, or what you plan to do? If so, it would be very useful if you could fill out their impact survey. It takes just 4 minute and helps them quantify their impact. They read every entry and often contact people with further advice.

Job Postings

Check out Charity Science’s Associate Project Director role for a new project on SMS vaccine reminders.

The Effective Altruism Foundation is looking for a Chief Technology Officer and an Operations Manager to join their team in Berlin.

In a collaboration with FHI, Yale Assistant Professor of Political Science Allan Dafoe is seeking research assistants for a project on the political dimensions of the existential risks posed by advanced artificial intelligence.

GiveWell is hiring a Director of Operations to lead and build the team responsible for non-research functions at GiveWell and the Open Philanthropy Project.

Sentience Politics is looking to hire a Project Director, a Director of Content, a Research Associate, an Outreach Coordinator, and an Operations Assistant, all based at their Berlin office.

June 3

Timeless Classics

Out of everyone throughout the ages and across the world, who is the best person who has ever lived? Check out this short article by Will MacAskill for his answer.

Go forth and do the most good!

Let us know how you liked this edition and how we can improve further.

See you again on July 7!

Georgie, Michał, Pascal and Sören – The Effective Altruism Newsletter Team

The Effective Altruism Newsletter is a joint project between the Centre for Effective Altruism, the Effective Altruism Hub and .impact.