80,000 Hours - Narrations

Self-help often says you should be more ambitious. This isn't always good advice. But if you want to do good, here are 4 reasons it makes sense. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (01:40) In a nutshell: why to be more ambitious (02:54) What do we mean by being more ambitious? (04:05) Four reasons to be more ambitious (04:45) 1. A small chance of achieving a lot can still be worth a great deal (and much...

The recording may not reflect the most recent changes to this article. Lots of people say they want to “make a difference,” “do good,” “have a social impact,” or “make the world a better place” — but they rarely say what they mean by those terms. By getting clearer about your definition, you can better target your efforts. So how should you define social impact? Over two thousand years of philosop...

Plagues throughout history suggest the potential for biology to cause global catastrophe. This potential increases in step with the march of biotechnological progress. Global Catastrophic Biological Risks (GCBRs) may compose a significant share of all global catastrophic risk, and, if so, a credible threat to humankind. Despite extensive existing efforts addressed to nearby fields like biodefense...

When we work together, we can do far more good in the world. We cover the basics of coordination and practical tips for doing it more effectively. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (03:32) The bottom line (05:46) Theory: what are the mechanisms behind coordination? (06:41) Single-player communities and their problems (15:41) Market communities (20:33) How to avoid coordination failures in self-interest...

Most solutions to social problems don’t actually work very well. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (01:27) How much do solutions differ in how well they work? (06:53) Technical aside: theoretical arguments about how much solutions differ (08:13) What do these findings imply? (09:03) So, how can we find the most effective solutions in an area? (09:09) Hits-based vs data-driven approaches (12:36) What do...

The question this week: is the world getting better or worse? Three ways the world's getting better 1. Poverty has decreased. Lots of stats about trends in the world – even ones that seem good to some people – are complicated to evaluate overall. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (00:50) Three ways the world's getting better (00:55) 1. Poverty has decreased. (01:29) 2. We're healthier than ever before....

If you want to make a difference, and are not already wedded to a particular issue, what’s the best charity to donate to? Here's how to figure it out. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (00:26) How to choose an effective charity (00:30) First, plan your research (00:44) If you trust someone else's recommendations, you can defer to them. (01:32) Consider entering a donor lottery. (02:37) If you’re going...

We’ve argued that preventing an AI-related catastrophe may be the world’s most pressing problem, and that while progress in AI over the next few decades could have enormous benefits, it could also pose severe, possibly existential risks. As a result, we think that working on some technical AI research — research related to AI safety — may be a particularly high-impact career path. But there are ma...

In a 2013 paper, Dr Toby Ord reviewed data compiled in the DCP2 which compared about 100 health interventions in developing countries in terms of how many years of illness they prevent per dollar. He discovered some striking facts about the data: The best interventions were around 10,000 times more cost effective than the worst, and around 50 times more cost effective than the median. If you picke...

TED-Ed's video on What if You Lived Every Human Life is inspired by the thought experiment in Will MacAskill's new book What We Owe the Future. It centers around the idea that if you could truly put yourself in everyone else's shoes, the way that you live your life would be radically different. While you can't actually "live every human life", there are actions that you can take to make the lives...

Our overall view Sometimes recommended We’d love to see more people working on this issue. But you might be able to do even more good working on one of our top priority problem areas. See the scores for all problems we've investigated. --> Profile depth Exploratory That's the end of the summary. The main problem profile begins now. Why might immigration restrictions be a problem? Many people are h...

Our overall view Sometimes recommended We’d love to see more people working on this issue. But you might be able to do even more good working on one of our top priority problem areas. See the scores for all problems we've investigated. --> Profile depth Exploratory That's the end of the summary. The main problem profile begins now. Why might whole brain emulation be a pressing issue? Whole brain e...

Our overall view Sometimes recommended We’d love to see more people working on this issue. But you might be able to do even more good working on one of our top priority problem areas. See the scores for all problems we've investigated. --> Profile depth Exploratory That's the end of the summary. The main problem profile begins now. Why might the spread of false ideas on social media be a pressing...

It's easy to imagine that wild animals live harmoniously with one another in a natural 'balance' — but advocates for wild animal welfare argue that this attitude ignores the huge amounts of suffering present in nature. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (00:09) Our overall view (00:35) Why might wild animal welfare be a pressing global issue? (02:07) But isn't wild animal suffering natural? (02:43) Is i...

Stable global totalitarianism could create a perpetual dystopia. We’re not currently aware of anyone working full-time on investigating this possibility. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (00:38) Why might the risk of stable totalitarianism be an especially pressing problem? (03:06) Risks of totalitarianism through the formation of a single world government (04:41) Risks of totalitarianism through tech...

Our overall view Sometimes recommended Working on this problem could be among the best ways of improving the long-term future, but we know of fewer high-impact opportunities to work on this issue than on our top priority problems. See the scores for all problems we've investigated. --> Profile depth Exploratory That's the end of the summary. The main problem profile begins now. Why might risks fro...

People working on *suffering risks* or *s-risks* attempt to reduce the risk of something causing vastly more suffering than has existed on Earth so far. We think research to work out how to mitigate these risks might be particularly important. You may also be able to do important work by building this field, which is currently highly neglected — with fewer than 50 people working on this worldwide....

Our overall view Sometimes recommended We’d love to see more people working on this issue. But you might be able to do even more good working on one of our top priority problem areas. See the scores for all problems we've investigated. --> Profile depth Exploratory That's the end of the summary. The main problem profile begins now. Why might safeguarding liberal democracy be a pressing issue? Libe...

Law school can be valuable for people pursuing several promising high-impact career paths — but you should avoid some common mistakes. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (00:10) Summary (00:48) Pros (01:02) Cons (01:17) Key facts on fit (01:45) Next steps (02:03) Sometimes recommended (02:46) I. Why law school could be an important step in a promising career path (04:51) Roles influencing policy (09:31)...

Our overall view Sometimes recommended Working on this problem could be among the best ways of improving the long-term future, but we know of fewer high-impact opportunities to work on this issue than on our top priority problems. See the scores for all problems we've investigated. --> Profile depth Exploratory That's the end of the summary. The main problem profile begins now. Why might civilisat...

The recording may not reflect the most recent changes to this article. At 5:29 AM on July 16, 1945, deep in the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico, the Manhattan Project carried out the world’s first successful test of a nuclear weapon. From that moment, we’ve had the technological capacity to wipe out humanity. But if you asked someone in 1945 to predict exactly how this risk would play out,...

Both the risks and benefits of advances in atomically precise manufacturing could be significant. Shaping the trajectory of this technology is highly neglected. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (00:10) Summary (00:32) Our overall view (00:59) Why could risks from atomically precise manufacturing be a pressing problem? (01:27) Atomically precise manufacturing might be feasible, and there's incentive to...

What experts say are the most likely existential risks, why they're more likely than people think, and what we can do about them. Narrated by AI. --- Outline: (00:54) Prefer a podcast? (01:40) Prefer a book? (02:00) We'll mail you the book (for free) (04:10) How likely are you to be killed by an asteroid? An overview of naturally occurring existential threats (05:43) A history of progress, leading...

Our overall view Sometimes recommended We’d love to see more people working on this issue. But you might be able to do even more good working on one of our top priority problem areas. See the scores for all problems we've investigated. --> Profile depth Exploratory That's the end of the summary. The main problem profile begins now. Why might mental health be a pressing global issue? Improving ment...

Our overall view Sometimes recommended We’d love to see more people working on this issue. But you might be able to do even more good working on one of our top priority problem areas. See the scores for all problems we've investigated. --> Profile depth Exploratory That's the end of the summary. The main problem profile begins now. Why might economic growth be a pressing issue? Speeding up economi...