In discussing different models of research funding (NIH vs. corporations vs. small startups vs. funding through charities) I thought it might be useful to...
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Natalie Stone
nstone3
Jun 9, 2010 6:48 pm
Hello everyone, When speaking to charities by phone, we create a "conceptual transcript," that, while not always being word-for-word, records the ideas...
190
Elie Hassenfeld
elie@...
Jun 9, 2010 9:31 pm
As we mentioned previously on this list, we are working this year on causes focused on improving lives in the United States ( ...
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Phil Steinmeyer
psteinx
Jun 9, 2010 10:55 pm
I agree that "equality of opportunity in the United States" is a bad name for the rather broader areas you're studying here. Brainstorming: "Improving life...
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J. S. Greenfield
jsgreenfield
Jun 10, 2010 11:43 am
... I followed the link above to "Social Programs That Just Don't Work." At the top of the list was "Education," and clicking through was a discussion...
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Vipul Naik
vipul@...
Jun 10, 2010 1:25 pm
Hi, ... I think that's true -- sweeping conclusions about school choice cannot be drawn from a single study, or even from hundreds of studies that look only at...
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Holden Karnofsky
Holden@...
Jun 11, 2010 9:25 pm
J.S., thanks for the thoughtful comments. I am not actually sure whether we actually disagree. You are focused on the effects of school choice, whereas we are...
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Holden Karnofsky
Holden@...
Jun 15, 2010 2:41 am
Hello all, I'd like your thoughts on how important the following issue is to you. GiveWell has consistently taken the position that cost-effectiveness ...
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Holden Karnofsky
Holden@...
Jun 15, 2010 3:47 pm
Just a quick clarification on this: I didn't mean to ask about "cost-effectiveness estimates in general," but rather, specifically about the...
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rnoble@...
Jun 16, 2010 9:45 am
I haven't followed your approach to cost-effectiveness closely lately, but I have gotten an uneasy feeling that you are quickly dismissive of attempts to...
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Natalie Stone
nstone3
Jun 17, 2010 8:48 pm
Ron, As I wrote the blog post on Tuesday about the spring protection for clean water, I would like to take a moment to respond to your comments. While I never...
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Holden Karnofsky
Holden@...
Jun 18, 2010 8:52 pm
Just wanted to add that we do take cost-effectiveness estimates seriously and consider them a major part of how we choose between causes and between charities....
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Robert Daoust
robdao123
Jun 21, 2010 10:53 pm
There are countless, perhaps millions of occurrences of excessive suffering in the world around us, and yet it seems that in spite of our willingness to do so,...
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Holden Karnofsky
Holden@...
Jun 22, 2010 1:35 pm
Robert, thanks for the thoughtful question. If I'm reading you right, it sounds like you have more time than money and value certainty of impact over expected...
202
psteinx
Jun 22, 2010 4:53 pm
Your post gets at several of the reasons why giving effectively and intelligently is challenging: 1) Credibility. Many entities make claims about impact....
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rnoble@...
Jun 22, 2010 5:26 pm
I have a couple of thoughts on this. One is that certainty of good effects is impossible. You might hand deliver drugs to me that will cure a fatal illness...
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psteinx
Jun 22, 2010 5:31 pm
Good point. Even decisions that we take for ourselves, with purely selfish motives, don't always have positive outcomes. So obviously we should not have...
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J. S. Greenfield
jsgreenfield
Jun 23, 2010 12:41 pm
There's a very basic question that you need to ask yourself, here: what is your ultimate goal in charitable giving? Is it to produce the greatest benefit (or...
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Robert Daoust
robdao123
Jun 24, 2010 11:10 am
Holden, thanks and congratulations for your wonderful work at GiveWell, and for this specialized forum that allows to address a question which is so important...
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Robert Daoust
robdao123
Jun 25, 2010 12:02 am
My first post can be read as if I was after the personal emotional satisfaction of being able to identify a particular person whom I have helped. As a matter...
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Robert Daoust
robdao123
Jun 25, 2010 12:04 am
Good point indeed. We may agree however, and please correct me if I am wrong on this capital point, that certainty of good effects is impossible only inasmuch...
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J. S. Greenfield
jsgreenfield
Jun 25, 2010 2:57 am
If you have a lot of time and very little money, then it is very inefficient for you to spend your time deciding how best to spend your money. Let's suppose...
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J. S. Greenfield
jsgreenfield
Jun 25, 2010 2:57 am
In reality, focusing on near-term reduction of (excessive) suffering is almost certainly an extremely inefficient way to reduce (excessive) suffering. It may...
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Holden Karnofsky
Holden@...
Jun 25, 2010 3:39 am
Below is an exchange I had with Nick Beckstead on the subject of cost-effectiveness estimates (which I requested feedback on previously), forwarded with...
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Robert Daoust
robdao123
Jun 25, 2010 3:53 pm
As far as suffering is concerned `first and foremost', I hold that economy is as much a part of the problem than of the solution. That's why I lend no...
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anil mahajan
anilanilm@...
Jun 25, 2010 4:30 pm
Dear Robert this is in reference to your reply to geernfield. I agree fully with you with regard to the economy and sufferings. in fact this is what is...
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J. S. Greenfield
jsgreenfield
Jun 25, 2010 7:12 pm
... I believe that either you (and Dr. Anil) took my comment to mean something I hadn't intended, or you are very mistaken in your (collective) view. I am not...
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Robert Daoust
robdao123
Jun 26, 2010 3:11 pm
I won't speak for Dr. Anil, just for myself. I apologize if I have not been as clear as I should. What I have to say is not easy to convey, especially in a...
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anil mahajan
anilanilm@...
Jun 26, 2010 3:11 pm
... dear greenfield no, i haven't misunderstood ur statement. I just wanted to convey to robert that economy, to me, plays and important role in making poor...
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J. S. Greenfield
jsgreenfield
Jun 26, 2010 4:32 pm
... I don't think that developing the economy alleviates or eliminates all suffering. I do think it alleviates or eliminates the vast majority of suffering...
