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You could use a think tank or econ phd position to research policies with potential for disruptive change. We also recommend startups highly. What paths do you

You could use a think tank or econ phd position to research policies with potential for disruptive change. We also recommend startups highly. What paths do you think we should look into more?

plaguuuuuu 11y ago
edit: I get what the organisation is trying to do now. Just doing the survey put me off a bit though, even once I read through other parts of the site. IMO there's a lot of hand waving and not enough hard info - particularly keeping in mind the target audience is students - on exactly what sort of social impact each role has. To me it looked like the site was just saying hey... you can become a researcher at a think tank... then doesn't solve the main problem for students, as they still have no idea how that contributes to society in a meaningful way as they aren't presented with any concrete examples. I do think that more career paths should be featured. The main one that comes to mind is education. I'll note that think tanks have been harping on about it for years with little progress. The attitude towards it in the US is bizarre; people from overseas are shocked when they find out how little money teachers are paid and even more so how teachers are looked down upon as a result. Hence the average quality of teachers is lower compared to other countries and the impacts on society are subtle and widespread. Having police in schools seems completely insane to outsiders. Becoming a teacher would make a small difference. Convincing talented graduates to enter the field and transform it would make a larger difference. I strongly recommend including some professions that may not be sexy or lucrative, but have the potential to make a difference.
- BenjaminTodd 11y ago
  Ok, thanks for taking the time to read through. I agree another big part of the equation is what causes to focus on. We have separate content on that but it needs a lot of work: https://80000hours.org/articles/cause-selection/ https://80000hours.org/articles/cause-selection/
yarrel 11y ago
You need to read this - http://www.imaginaryfutures.net/2007/04/17/the-californian-ideology-2/ http://www.imaginaryfutures.net/2007/04/17/the-californian-i...

You could use a think tank or econ phd position to research policies with potential for disruptive change. We also recommend startups highly. What paths do you think we should look into more?

plaguuuuuu 11y ago

edit: I get what the organisation is trying to do now. Just doing the survey put me off a bit though, even once I read through other parts of the site. IMO there's a lot of hand waving and not enough hard info - particularly keeping in mind the target audience is students - on exactly what sort of social impact each role has. To me it looked like the site was just saying hey... you can become a researcher at a think tank... then doesn't solve the main problem for students, as they still have no idea how that contributes to society in a meaningful way as they aren't presented with any concrete examples. I do think that more career paths should be featured. The main one that comes to mind is education. I'll note that think tanks have been harping on about it for years with little progress. The attitude towards it in the US is bizarre; people from overseas are shocked when they find out how little money teachers are paid and even more so how teachers are looked down upon as a result. Hence the average quality of teachers is lower compared to other countries and the impacts on society are subtle and widespread. Having police in schools seems completely insane to outsiders. Becoming a teacher would make a small difference. Convincing talented graduates to enter the field and transform it would make a larger difference. I strongly recommend including some professions that may not be sexy or lucrative, but have the potential to make a difference.

BenjaminTodd 11y ago
Ok, thanks for taking the time to read through. I agree another big part of the equation is what causes to focus on. We have separate content on that but it needs a lot of work: https://80000hours.org/articles/cause-selection/ https://80000hours.org/articles/cause-selection/

yarrel 11y ago

You need to read this - http://www.imaginaryfutures.net/2007/04/17/the-californian-ideology-2/ http://www.imaginaryfutures.net/2007/04/17/the-californian-i...