Topics in Need of Work
In the context of EA, Shapley values are a method for assigning credit for the impact of an intervention to each of a set of actors collaborating to make it happen. The concept of a Shapley value comes from cooperative game theory, where it is a general solution to the problem of distributing gains from cooperation. In impact assessment, it is often compared...
The Asymmetry is a view in population ethics stating that creating bad lives is morally bad, but creating good lives is not morally good. That is, there is an asymmetry between (i) the strong moral reason to avoid creating lives filled with suffering and (ii) the absence (or weakness) of a corresponding reason to create happy lives.
This asymmetry is often used...
Benchmarks are tests which enable us to measure the progress of AI capabilities, and test for characteristics which might pose safety risks.
Further reading
BASALT: A Benchmark for Learning from Human Feedback - AI Alignment Forum
Misaligned Powerseeking — SERI ML Alignment Theory Scholars Program | Summer 2022
Guesstimate is a web-based spreadsheet tool built to focus on uncertainty. It's useful for fermi estimates and collaborative modelling.
External links
Related Entries
Tools for Collaborative Truth Seeking | Squiggle | QURI
Tutorial
Video tutorial available here, text tutorial below.
Why use guesstimate?
Guesstimate...
The Atlas Fellowship is a summer program in California open to talented high school students globally aimed at helping these students with thinking tools, a scholarship, and funding and support for their projects.
As of November 2023, they are ceasing to operate the fellowship.[1]
Funding
As of July 2022, the Atlas Fellowship has received $5 million in funding ...
Ready Research provides research, training, and communication services to help address the world's most pressing problems.
External links
Ready Research. Official website.
Related entries
Tabletop exercises are informal meetings in which members of an emergency team discuss, usually with the help of a facilitator, their individual roles and appropriate responses during an emergency situation.[1][2][3][4]
Further reading
Blough, Ryan (2022) Wargaming AGI development, LessWrong, March 19.
Police Department (2012) What is a tabletop exercise?, University...
Quantum computing is the use of quantum mechanical physical processes to perform computation in ways unavailable to classical computers.
Further reading
Sevilla, Jaime (2021) Forecasting quantum computing, Effective Altruism Forum, April 10.
External links
Quantum Country. A free introduction to quantum computing and quantum mechanics using spaced repetition, by...
Twitter collects posts related to the microblogging and social networking service.
External links
Effective Altruism. List of Twitter accounts that regularly tweet EA-relevant content.
Topic Voting Activity
| User | Post Title | Topic | Pow | When | Vote |
Recent Topic Activity
More details in the announcement post.
See also:
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
|
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.