Comments
57
TLDR: Effective Altruism likes numbers, therefore there is bias towards projects that are easily quantifiable. What about big impactful ideas that make intuitive sense but are not that easy to put into a spreadsheet?
Trying to evaluate impact of large scale infrastructure projects that have loads of 2nd and 3rd effects. Maybe there is already a dedicated working group specialising in that?
Not a pipe dream. The Cape Town-Cairo railway in the making 100 years ago (but then Great Depression, WW2, collapse of the British Empire).
Thinking about financing models. Thinking about resolving geopolitical instability (something that has to be done anyway). I genuinely believe that the project has loads of potential but not obvious how to put the numbers into a spreadsheet.
Some other impactful projects with loads of 2nd and 3rd effects, not easy to quantify:
Once again link to the blog: https://mirror.xyz/0x315f80C7cAaCBE7Fb1c14E65A634db89A33A9637/G4Qt_Cr8vMUKGbkEjAZu7Fly9c-igAViP5VZ3mb0rjc
Greatly appreciating feedback / comments / ideas that bring positive value. Of course I know it will be difficult to achieve but I remain optimistic no matter what.
The blog post describes the potential impact and difficulties of accurate evaluation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_to_Cairo_Railway
So this just happened: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Nigerien_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
And in the media reporting they said "Mali and Burkina Faso also experienced coup since 2020":
I genuinely believe that stability brings prosperity, no sane business would invest in such countries.