Interview
#7 - Julia Galef on making humanity more rational, and why Twitter isn’t all bad
- A career profile focused on improving human judgment is scheduled for release on the 80,000 Hours website within the next few weeks.
- A book currently in progress by the author will not be published in the immediate future.
- Conversations framed as efforts to understand underlying models are expected to be more effective than attempts to change minds due to reduced resistance and alignment with the goal of understanding.
- Networking with smart individuals working on significant projects is expected to provide future career benefits, although specific outcomes remain unpredictable.
- A loose-knit, unofficial community of approximately 100 people across VC, tech, government, and media sectors is anticipated to form within five years, comprising members who have engaged with the 12 most important issues for the future of the world and revised their views over time.
- High congressional re-election rates suggest that legislative inaccuracies primarily stem from a lack of incentive structures rewarding improved accuracy.
- Over the past two years, social science attitudes have shifted toward greater openness, rigor, and anti-p-hacking, indicating a strong collective desire within the field to address current issues.
- Researchers who do not share data or pre-register studies may face disadvantages in hiring processes for research roles and professorships.
- A strategic pivot to focus on a single global catastrophic risk is planned contingent on a significant update in favor of that specific risk being imminent and likely.