Fundamentals research and macrostrategy

Abstract

This is a presentation outline about the implications of fundamental research in effective altruism (EA) for decision-making. The speaker suggests that current views on prioritization in EA are heavily influenced by fundamental beliefs about topics like existential risk, population ethics, and the value of the future. The author believes that research in areas like worldview compromise, causal models of long-term indirect effects, the simulation hypothesis, and animal consciousness could potentially change these priorizations. However, they argue that research in topics like population ethics, infinite ethics, technological timelines, the Great Filter, the Doomsday argument, and animal welfare levels is unlikely to have a significant impact on changing high-level priorities. Instead, they believe that the best ideas for EA will come from practical investigations informed by good fundamental beliefs, rather than purely theoretical explorations of these fundamental topics. – AI-generated abstract.