Lecture
Which jobs help people the most? (part 2c) @ Cambridge University
- Four broad paths to social impact are presented, with research and advocacy predicted to offer greater scalability than direct work because discoveries and mobilization allow effects to spread rapidly to many people rather than being limited to individual cases.
- Academic research is highlighted as potentially delivering over a thousand times the impact of the median output, with the top 0.1% of papers cited over a thousand times, while entrepreneurship similarly concentrates economic value in the top couple of percent of founders.
- Advocacy is described as a multiplier that can generate twice the impact of direct work by mobilizing others, with politicians and influential figures expected to hold huge sway, exemplified by the Global Priorities Project advising UK government levels on emerging risks.
- "Earning to give" is projected to be a superior strategy for individuals with high salary differentials, such as tech sector roles in software engineering, startups, consulting, or asset management, where a Google engineer donating half their income could match or exceed the impact of direct nonprofit work.
- A PhD is strongly recommended for those with a serious prospect of becoming an academic in pressing problem areas, alongside the expectation that changing fields or securing influential positions is often the correct move for improving personal impact.
- Problem-specific needs dictate the optimal strategy, such as prioritizing research for breast cancer to develop better treatments, whereas the framework for selecting pressing problems, best methods, and personal fit is expected to yield significantly larger impact than the easy baseline.
- Career longevity and efficacy depend on aligning with personal fit and developing exceptional skills, as burning out from disliked work leads to reduced long-term impact and mastering any field typically requires 10 to 20 years of hard work.
- The framework aims to help individuals find jobs where they can become "really good" over time, promising both a fulfilling career and the potential to generate much more impact than the median person in the field.