Topics in Need of Work
Criticism of longtermism and existential risk studies collects critical discussions of longtermism and existential risk studies.
Further reading
Melchin, Denise (2021) Why I am probably not a longtermist, Effective Altruism Forum, September 23.
Tomasik, Brian (2015) Should altruists focus on reducing short-term or far-future suffering?, Essays on Reducing Suffering...
Urgent longtermism is the position that now is an unusually good time to have an outsized impact on the future (i.e., the hinge of history hypothesis). In particular, it claims that the current time is particularly pivotal and that we have some scope to change what happens. Ben Todd creates a distinction between two kinds of urgent longtermism: broad and targeted...
Further reading
Askell, Amanda (2019) AI safety needs social scientists, EAGlobal, March 4.
Irving, Geoffrey & Amanda Askell (2019) Ai safety needs social scientists, Distill, vol. 4.
Mauricio (2020) Social sciences & existential risk - syllabus, unpublished.
Related entries
economics | history | international relations | psychology | surveys
For posts that offer career advising, discuss better (and worse) types of career advising, etc.
Types of career advice research
One proposed typology of research on career advice distinguishes between career choice research ("Which career paths are especially impactful?"), career success research ("What strategies are best for succeeding in a career?"), and career...
Grantmaking is the process by which a government or an organization gives non-repayable funds or products for a particular purpose or project.
Grantmaking focused on top cause areas is one of 80,000 hours "priority paths"—the most promising career opportunities the organization is currently aware of.[1] Their medium-depth profile rates grantmaking an option...
Charity evaluation (or charity assessment) is the investigation of charities to determine whether they should receive funding. It often includes a mixture of quantitative cost-effectiveness calculations and other considerations, such as the strength of the charity's team, their theory of change, and their room for more funding.
Charity evaluators are organisations...
The burden of disease (also called disease burden and global burden of disease) is the total impact of disease on a population.
History
The concept of burden of disease originates in a study commissioned by the World Bank in 1990 and in collaboration with Harvard University and the World Health Organization (WHO). The study, published in the World Bank's 1993 ...
A supervolcano is an unusually large volcano with the potential to produce an eruption with major effects on the global climate system.
Recommendations
In The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity, Toby Ord offers several policy and research recommendations for handling risks from supervolcanic eruptions:[1]
- Find all the places where supervolcanic
A singleton is a world order in which there is a single decision-making agency at the highest level. The singleton hypothesis is the hypothesis that Earth-originating intelligent life will eventually assume the form a singleton.
The concept of a singleton expresses an abstract idea. A singleton could take the form of world government, such as global democracy...
The Motivational tag covers posts that focus on inspiring us to do good (either a specific kind of good, or whatever we already want to work on).
We hope that reading through this collection will lift your spirits and spur you to beneficial action!
If a post motivates you to do good, or you think it will motivate others, upvote it. There are no wrong answers.
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More details in the announcement post.
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A week for discussing funding strategy, broadly construed.
A two-long series of events on the EA Forum, aimed at causing more and better donations, and reaching new audiences.
| Dates | Nov 10-16 | Nov 17-23 | Nov 24-Dec 7 | Dec 8-14 | Dec 15-EOY |
| Event | Funding Strategy Week | Marginal Funding Week | Donation Election
| ‘Why I donate’ week | Donation Celebration Banner
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More details in the announcement post.
A two-long series of events on the EA Forum, aimed at causing more and better donations, and reaching new audiences.
| Dates | Nov 10-16 | Nov 17-23 | Nov 24-Dec 7 | Dec 8-14 | Dec 15-EOY |
| Event | Funding Strategy Week | Marginal Funding Week | Donation Election
|
The Essays on Longtermism Competition (EoL Competition) iswas an essay contest on the Effective Altruism Forum, co-organized by the Forum team and the editors of Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future (Oxford University Press, 2025).
The competition encouragesencouraged rigorous philosophical engagement with longtermism—the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. Participants arewere invited to submit essays in response to a chapter, or (substantiated) theme from the collection before October 20, 2025 (anywhere on earth).
NOTE: THE DEADLINE FOR THE COMPETITION HAS NOW PASSED. YOU CAN STILL SUBMIT ESSAYS WITH THE TAG, AND THEY WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR A BEST-OF SEQUENCE, BUT WON'T BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PRIZE.
This year's Draft Amnesty Week will run from February 24th to March 2nd.2nd, and, from October 13th - 19th. Draft Amnesty is an event where Forum users can post scrappy, draft-y, or incomplete posts with impunity.
The Essays on Longtermism Competition (EoL Competition) is an essay contest on the Effective Altruism Forum, co-organized by the Forum team and the editors of Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future (Oxford University Press, 2025).
The competition encourages rigorous philosophical engagement with longtermism—the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. Participants are invited to submit essays in response to a chapter, argument, or (substantiated) theme from the collection before October 20, 2025 (anywhere on earth).
Greaves, Hilary & MacAskill, William (2021). The Case for Strong Longtermism.
Ord, Toby (2020). The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity.
Provisional tag — moderators may want to change the name, or delete this if it doesn't seem separate enough from the "Forecasting" tag. Could also be "betting on beliefs", though that still isn't very specific.
Some people use betting as a way to signal the strength of their views; they might offer a bet as a way to identify a crux in a debate, or challenge a critic they view as insincere.
This tag tracks posts where people make public bets on their beliefs (or discuss the practice of doing so).
Provisional tag — moderators may want to change the name, or delete this if it doesn't seem separate enough from the "Forecasting" tag. Could also be "betting on beliefs", though that still isn't very specific.
Some people use betting as a way to signal the strength of their views; they might offer a bet as a way to identify a crux in a debate, or challenge a critic they view as insincere.
This tag tracks posts where people make public bets on their beliefs (or discuss the practice of doing so).
Effective Altruism Forum (2025). Announcing: The Essays on Longtermism Competition.Competition.
The Essays on Longtermism Competition (EoL Competition) is an essay contest on the Effective Altruism Forum, co-organized by the Forum team and the editors of Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future (Oxford University Press, 2025). The competition encourages rigorous philosophical engagement with longtermism—the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. Participants are invited to submit essays in response to a chapter, argument, or theme from the collection before October 20, 2025 (anywhere on earth).
Further reading
Barrett, Jacob; Greaves, Hilary; Thorstad, David (eds.) (2025). Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future. Oxford University Press.
Greaves, Hilary & MacAskill, William (2021). The Case for Strong Longtermism.
Ord, Toby (2020). The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity.
Effective Altruism Forum (2025). Announcing: The Essays on Longtermism Competition.
Related entries
longtermism | forecasting | moral philosophy | Events on the EA Forum | prizes and contests
NOTE: THE DEADLINE FOR THE COMPETITION HAS NOW PASSED. YOU CAN STILL SUBMIT ESSAYS WITH THE TAG, AND THEY WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR A BEST-OF SEQUENCE, BUT WON'T BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PRIZE.
The Essays on Longtermism Competition (EoL Competition) was an essay contest on the Effective Altruism Forum, co-organized by the Forum team and the editors of Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future (Oxford University Press, 2025).
The competition encouraged rigorous philosophical engagement with longtermism—the view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. Participants were invited to submit essays in response to a chapter, or (substantiated) theme from the collection before October 20, 2025 (anywhere on earth).
Further reading
Barrett, Jacob; Greaves, Hilary; Thorstad, David (eds.) (2025). Essays on Longtermism: Present Action for the Distant Future. Oxford University Press....
The 10% Pledge is a public, non-binding commitment to donate at least 10% of one’s income each year to the most cost-effective charities or funding opportunities one can identify. It is administered by Giving What We Can (GWWC) and serves both as a personal commitment device and as a norm-setting tool within the effective altruism community.tool.
The tag was rejected because it hasn’t yet been applied to at least three posts by different authors.