This point seems obvious to me but may not be to other people: optimal philanthropists are risk-loving. You should take the option that maximizes expected earnings, without too much concern for variance. Most people make career decisions designed to optimize expected utility, not earnings, and this prompts them to pick much safer, middle-of-the-road type career trajectories. To put it another way, a normal person would probably prefer a guaranteed $1 million career to one that gives a 1% shot at $200 million, but MIRI would prefer its donors to take the long shot.
This point seems obvious to me but may not be to other people: optimal philanthropists are risk-loving. You should take the option that maximizes expected earnings, without too much concern for variance. Most people make career decisions designed to optimize expected utility, not earnings, and this prompts them to pick much safer, middle-of-the-road type career trajectories. To put it another way, a normal person would probably prefer a guaranteed $1 million career to one that gives a 1% shot at $200 million, but MIRI would prefer its donors to take the long shot.