This is a link post.

This Vox article by Dylan Matthews provides an excellent overview of why funding Gavi, the international vaccine alliance, is one of the most impactful things the US government does. Gavi has a proven track record of cost-effectively saving millions of lives by providing access to essential vaccines in the world's poorest countries.

Gavi is currently seeking $9billion in funding for its 2026-2030 budget, which includes over $1 billion for the newly approved malaria vaccines. Despite some concerns about "donor fatigue," there appears to be strong bipartisan support in Congress for meeting or even exceeding the Biden administration's $1.58 billion pledge to Gavi.

However, the article argues that even this level of funding may not be sufficient to fully take advantage of the new malaria vaccines' potential. With more support, Gavi could theoretically vaccinate up to 29 million children per year against malaria.

---

First published:

July 18th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/BQhcQSKk2SspgBu7F/the-most-crucial-part-of-next-year-s-federal-budget

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Summary

I investigated non-Western EAs’ perception of cross cultural interactions (CCIs) they had with Westerners, specifically:

1. Whether or not non-Westerners experienced CCI issues, and how often;
2. How their CCIs compare between EA and non-EA settings;
3. What kinds of subtle acts of exclusion (SAEs) they had experienced.

I interviewed 21 non-Western EAs (selected from an EA conference's Swapcard and a few from my own personal network) and discovered:

• An overwhelming number of interviewees (19 out of 21) thought their cross-cultural interactions in EA settings were almost all neutral or positive.
• However, among the same 19 interviewees who found their CCIs to be mostly neutral or positive, they’ve also reported the following:
• 43% (9 out of 19) reported at least one general negative CCI
• 48% (10 out of 19) reported at least one SAE caused by Western EAs
• 19% (4 out of 19) reported at least one SAE caused by [...]

---

Outline:

(00:06) Summary

(03:12) Methodology

(05:58) Results

(06:01) 1.  Do non-Westerners experience CCI issues? And how many?

(07:20) 2. How do CCIs compare between EA and non-EA settings?

(08:05) 3. What kinds of SAEs do interviewees experience?

(08:11) Highlighted negative vignettes

(12:45) Highlighted positive vignettes

(13:59) Highlighted neutral vignettes

(14:18) CCIs interviewees reported and their frequency

(15:17) Demographics of interviewees

(15:21) Gender

(15:38) Locale

(16:16) Limitations

(18:22) Appendix

(18:25) Definition of subtle acts of exclusion

(19:21) Vignettes

(19:24) B

(20:48) C

(21:26) D

(22:00) F

(22:26) G

(22:58) H

(23:47) J

(24:33) K

(26:10) L

(27:34) M

(29:03) N

(29:29) P

(30:33) Q

(30:54) R

(32:09) S

(32:53) T

(33:59) V

(35:30) W

(36:25) X

(37:07) Y

(37:49) Z

The original text contained 2 images which were described by AI.

---

First published:

July 24th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/jEvbQmKw6ZFkaHwZf/non-western-eas-perception-of-cross-cultural-interactions

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

We from Vida Plena are proud to present our first Annual Impact Report.

2023 was our first full year. It was a year of learning. We had just finished a successful pilot and started the year with the mission of building a solid foundation and proving that our therapy model works at scale.

This first annual impact report is our attempt to capture through charts and graphs bits of crucial evidence about who we’ve helped in 2023 and where we can continue to improve.

Background Context

Vida Plena (meaning ‘a flourishing life’ in Spanish) is a nonprofit organization based in Quito, Ecuador which launched in 2022 (see our launch post here).

Our mission is to build strong mental health in low-income and refugee communities, who otherwise would have no access to care. We provide evidence-based depression treatment using group interpersonal therapy, which is highly cost-effective and [...]

---

Outline:

(00:46) Background Context

(01:20) Main Findings

(03:02) Challenges

(03:52) Limitations

(05:22) Next Steps for Our Work

(06:14) Read the Full Report

(06:30) Acknowledgments

(07:15) We would love to stay in touch and keep you up to date with our work

The original text contained 3 images which were described by AI.

---

First published:

July 23rd, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/2Nmz28rrJBRtpWJBh/vida-plena-s-2023-impact-report-measuring-progress-and

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

On July 30th, Peter Singer will be answering your questions in a Forum AMA. He has agreed to answer questions for an hour in the evening (Melbourne time), so if your question hasn’t been answered by the 31st, it likely won’t be.

Singer needs little introduction for many people in the Forum. In fact, it is fairly likely that his work was the reason we first heard about effective altruism. However, I’ve included some information here to orient your questions, if you’d benefit from it.

What Singer has been up to recently

Singer retired from his Princeton professorship recently, ending with a conference celebrating his work (written about by Richard Chappell here— I also recommend this post as a place to start looking for questions to ask Singer).

Since, then, he has:

• Started a podcast, Lives Well Lived, along with his frequent collaborator Kasia [...]

---

Outline:

(00:37) What Singer has been up to recently

(01:31) EA-relevant moments in Singer's career

---

First published:

July 22nd, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/kPaGNzBYe7iti8fop/peter-singer-ama-july-30th

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Last week I attended the UFAW International Animal Welfare Conference 2024 in Porto. Here are some facts about the conference and its content as well as some personal impressions. I hope this gives some insights into animal welfare work outside of EA. Of course, this is just one conference, though.

I am not affiliated with UFAW and did not present any work at the conference.

TLDR 

• The UFAW International Animal Welfare Conference 2024 was an academic two-day event with talks and posters
• most content was on farmed animals and lab animals 
• there was some representation of wild animals, especially among the talks, including the keynote
• companion animals, working animals and animals in zoos/sanctuaries/rehabilitation centres together also made up a large part of the programme, mostly in the form of posters
• my personal impressions include 
  • most people attending were not vegetarian or vegan
  • general enthusiasm about helping [...]

---

Outline:

(00:34) TLDR

(01:25) about UFAW and the conference

(02:02) representation of different animal groups in the conference content

(02:08) overview

(02:51) wild animals

(04:23) farmed animals

(04:53) lab animals

(05:15) companion/working animals and animals in zoos

(05:45) visible EA-related presence

(06:10) personal experience of the vibe

(06:15) food

(07:15) general enthusiasm

(07:55) attitudes towards wild animal welfare

(08:58) potentially interesting future work

The original text contained 1 image which was described by AI.

---

First published:

July 21st, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/zXg5xj2b2GLmdAa5m/animal-welfare-outside-of-ea-numbers-and-thoughts-on-ufaw

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

I have just published a book version of my essay collection titled Minimalist Axiologies: Alternatives to ‘Good Minus Bad’ Views of Value. You can now read it in your format of choice, including paperback, free Kindle, or free paperback PDF. You can also download a free EPUB version from Smashwords or the Center for Reducing Suffering (CRS) website.

To briefly explain what the book is about, below are some blurbs, the Preface, and an abridged Table of Contents.

Blurbs

“Teo Ajantaival's new book is an important, original, and tremendously valuable contribution to value theory, and a badly needed corrective to alternative theories that assume that moral goods and bads are simply additive. Even those who, in the end, may have reservations about a thoroughgoing ‘minimalist’ theory of value will benefit from Ajantaival's careful and persuasive presentation of this under-appreciated alternative.”

— Clark Wolf, Director of Bioethics, Professor of [...]

---

Outline:

(00:51) Blurbs

(02:18) Preface

The original text contained 1 image which was described by AI.

---

First published:

July 19th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/JmSNjrBSJE53Hcvc8/new-book-minimalist-axiologies-alternatives-to-good-minus

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Attendees at our recent PauseAI Unconference

TL;DR: 🥳

Last November we had only 4 months of runway remaining–today we have ~1.5 years.

I’m reminded of the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, and I would be writing a very different update if not for the village that came together to support us since our fundraising appeal last winter.

We received several months of runway as a result of individual donations from alumni and supporters, which gave us the time to approach new funders, as well as encouragement to persevere.

Others volunteered their time and energy to support us. Guests at the hotel helped with day-to-day tasks so that we could focus on fundraising, and we received priceless advice from more experienced EAs on how to improve our offering and make the value of our project more apparent to funders.

As a result of all the [...]

---

Outline:

(01:59) The Future of CEEALAR!

(02:03) AI Winter is Coming to CEEALAR

(02:49) Workshops and Bootcamps and Hackathons, Oh My!

(03:23) Renovations

(03:54) Upcoming Opportunities

(04:14) Apply to stay at CEEALAR

(05:50) Volunteer

(06:45) Our Commitments

The original text contained 7 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

July 19th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/esFoMmj3PAECTqSrF/ceealar-2024-update

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Executive Summary

• We should take uncertainty seriously. Rethink Priorities’ Moral Parliament Tool, for instance, highlights that whether a worldview favors a particular project depends on relatively small differences in empirical assumptions and the way we characterize the commitments of that worldview.
• We have good reason to be uncertain:
  • The relevant empirical and philosophical issues are difficult.
  • We’re largely guessing when it comes to most of the key empirical claims associated with Global Catastrophic Risks and Animal Welfare.
  • As a community, EA has some objectionable epistemic features—e.g., it can be an echo chamber—that should probably make us less confident of the claims that are popular within it.
• The extent of our uncertainty is a reason to build models more like the Portfolio Builder and Moral Parliament Tools and less like traditional BOTECs. This is because:
  • Our models allow you to change parameters systematically to see how [...]

---

Outline:

(00:10) Executive Summary

(01:47) Introduction

(02:58) Recapping CRAFT

(06:23) How confident should we be in any particular combination of empirical, normative, and metanormative judgments?

(07:45) The relevant empirical and philosophical issues are difficult

(10:03) We’re largely guessing when it comes to most of the key empirical claims associated with GCR and animal work

(11:13) As a community, EA has some objectionable epistemic features

(12:36) There are better and worse ways of dealing with uncertainty

(15:12) Acknowledgments

The original text contained 2 images which were described by AI.

---

First published:

July 19th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/MpbtXpjXKNsrfoZCm/taking-uncertainty-seriously-or-why-tools-matter

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

This is a link post.

Crossposting this essay by my friend, Leila Clark.

A long time ago, a manager friend of mine wrote a book to collect his years of wisdom. He never published it, which is a shame because it was full of interesting insights. One that I think a lot about today was the question: “How are you paying your team?”

This friend worked in finance. You might think that people in finance, like most people, are paid in money. But it turns out that even in finance, you can’t actually always pay and motivate people with just money.

Often, there might just not be money to go around. Even if there is, managers are often captive to salary caps and performance bands. In any case, it's awkward to pay one person ten times more than another, even if one person is clearly contributing ten times more [...]

---

First published:

July 17th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/QB7cndscEsxzJQzM9/what-are-you-getting-paid-in

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a link post.

Rethink Priorities (RP) is excited to announce that Marcus A. Davis is now RP's sole CEO. Former Co-CEO Peter Wildeford will remain at RP, focusing on projects in artificial intelligence. He will also continue his work as Chief Advisory Executive at the RP-sponsored think tank, the Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS).

Since 2018, co-founders Marcus Davis and Peter Wildeford have served as Co-CEOs of RP. Their joint leadership has grown RP from a two-person research team into an international research organization with 60+ staff working around the world. Their guidance has helped expand RP's research areas to include animal welfare, global health and development, and artificial intelligence policy.

The decision to transition to this new leadership structure comes after discussions around the opportunities for RP's future growth, Peter's expertise and interests, and developments in the artificial intelligence landscape.

For further information [...]

The original text contained 1 image which was described by AI.

---

First published:

July 17th, 2024

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/kfr4x4P3E8u69HmjX/rethink-priorities-ceo-announcement

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

---

Images from the article:

Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.