The questions above are probably not the most important questions we could be answering right now, even in politics (I’d guess that the economy is more important). Outside of politics, many LWers probably think “what can we do about existential risks?” is one of the most important questions to answer, or possibly “how do we optimize charity?”
(This is not meant as a criticism of the post:) I hope I’m not the only one who went “gaaah” here about the latter two not being questions we could be answering right now in politics :-) Not that I have much hope that this is doable, but still.
(I started out writing “not that I have any hope”, but then remembered that GiveWell didn’t manage to find good opportunities for funding immunizations or micronutrient supplementation—the first of which they “consider to have the strongest evidence base of any intervention we know of”—with a major reason being that government and multilateral funders are already taking the best opportunities. See also Eliezer’s comment and Holden’s reply, suggesting the reason is that there are some people in government to whom measurable, quantifiable, tangible benefits make a very attractive pitch.)
(This is not meant as a criticism of the post:) I hope I’m not the only one who went “gaaah” here about the latter two not being questions we could be answering right now in politics :-) Not that I have much hope that this is doable, but still.
(I started out writing “not that I have any hope”, but then remembered that GiveWell didn’t manage to find good opportunities for funding immunizations or micronutrient supplementation—the first of which they “consider to have the strongest evidence base of any intervention we know of”—with a major reason being that government and multilateral funders are already taking the best opportunities. See also Eliezer’s comment and Holden’s reply, suggesting the reason is that there are some people in government to whom measurable, quantifiable, tangible benefits make a very attractive pitch.)