Start here
Guides
- Key ideas Understand what makes for a high-impact career.
  Introduction
  Your most important decision
  Summary
  Foundations
  A definition of impact
  Future generations & their moral significance
  Effective altruism
  Global priorities
  Why problem selection is crucial
  The case for reducing existential risks
  This could be the most important century
  Our current list of pressing problems
  Solutions
  The best solutions are far more effective
  Leverage
  What is leverage, and how to get it?
  Our list of high-impact careers
  Personal fit
  Fit is more important than you think
  Strategy
  What is career capital?
  How much to explore?
  Coordination and impact
  Balancing impact and doing what you love
  Aim higher: a rational case for dreaming big
  Three career stages
  Conclusion
  How much do careers differ in impact?
  Read the full guide →
- Problem profiles Find out about the world's biggest and most neglected problems.
  Top areas to work on
  Positively shaping the development of AI
  Global priorities research
  Building effective altruism
  Reducing the risk of catastrophic pandemics
  Nuclear security
  Improving institutional decision making
  Extreme climate change
  Other promising areas
  Mitigating great power conflict
  Global governance
  Space governance
  See all →
  Go to problems hub →
  Join our newsletter to get weekly updates on research, events, and high-impact job openings.
- Career reviews Learn about high-impact career paths.
  Key categories of impactful careers
  Government and policy
  Organisation-building at effective nonprofits
  Research
  Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche
  Communication
  Earning to give
  List of top-recommended career paths
  AI safety technical research
  Long-term AI policy
  Founder of new projects
  Helping build the effective altruism community
  Grantmaker
  Operations management in high-impact organisations
  Research into global priorities
  Biorisk research, strategy, and policy
  China-related AI safety and governance
  Forecasting research and implementation
  Sometimes-recommended paths
  High-impact but especially competitive
  Promising but under-researched
  Impactful if you’re an especially good fit
  Recommended career capital
  Steps to build your skills and network
  Making the most of your current job
  Doing good in any career
  How to invest in yourself
  See all our career reviews →
- Planning & decision making Use our tools to make concrete plans.
  Create a high-impact career plan
  8-week career planning course
  Summary
  Career plan template
  Annual career check-up
  Make good career decisions
  Make an immediate decision
  Improve your decision-making skills
  See all planning resources →
  Join our newsletter to get weekly updates on research, events, and high-impact job openings.
- Browse all our content Pick a topic to explore or check out our most popular pieces.
  Selected topics
  Moral philosophy
  Skills
  Job satisfaction
  Anonymous advice
  Unconventional advice
  What to study
  Advocacy
  Catastrophic risks
  Meta-causes
  Priority paths
  See all topics →
  Top articles from outside our guides
  What makes for a dream job?
  Best charities to donate to
  Misconceptions about effective altruism
  High-impact research questions
  What are your chances of getting elected to Congress, if you try?
  How many lives does a doctor save?
  What's the impact of voting?
  Advice for undergraduates
  All articles →
  
  2017 career guide
  All career guide pages →
Introduction
Your most important decision
Summary
Foundations
A definition of impact
Future generations & their moral significance
Effective altruism
Global priorities
Why problem selection is crucial
The case for reducing existential risks
This could be the most important century
Our current list of pressing problems
Solutions
The best solutions are far more effective
Leverage
What is leverage, and how to get it?
Our list of high-impact careers
Personal fit
Fit is more important than you think
Strategy
What is career capital?
How much to explore?
Coordination and impact
Balancing impact and doing what you love
Aim higher: a rational case for dreaming big
Three career stages
Conclusion
How much do careers differ in impact?
Read the full guide →
Top areas to work on
Positively shaping the development of AI
Global priorities research
Building effective altruism
Reducing the risk of catastrophic pandemics
Nuclear security
Improving institutional decision making
Extreme climate change
Other promising areas
Mitigating great power conflict
Global governance
Space governance
See all →
Go to problems hub →
Join our newsletter to get weekly updates on research, events, and high-impact job openings.
Key categories of impactful careers
Government and policy
Organisation-building at effective nonprofits
Research
Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche
Communication
Earning to give
List of top-recommended career paths
AI safety technical research
Long-term AI policy
Founder of new projects
Helping build the effective altruism community
Grantmaker
Operations management in high-impact organisations
Research into global priorities
Biorisk research, strategy, and policy
China-related AI safety and governance
Forecasting research and implementation
Sometimes-recommended paths
High-impact but especially competitive
Promising but under-researched
Impactful if you’re an especially good fit
Recommended career capital
Steps to build your skills and network
Making the most of your current job
Doing good in any career
How to invest in yourself
See all our career reviews →
Create a high-impact career plan
8-week career planning course
Summary
Career plan template
Annual career check-up
Make good career decisions
Make an immediate decision
Improve your decision-making skills
See all planning resources →
Join our newsletter to get weekly updates on research, events, and high-impact job openings.
Selected topics
Moral philosophy
Skills
Job satisfaction
Anonymous advice
Unconventional advice
What to study
Advocacy
Catastrophic risks
Meta-causes
Priority paths
See all topics →
Top articles from outside our guides
What makes for a dream job?
Best charities to donate to
Misconceptions about effective altruism
High-impact research questions
What are your chances of getting elected to Congress, if you try?
How many lives does a doctor save?
What's the impact of voting?
Advice for undergraduates
All articles →

2017 career guide
All career guide pages →
Job board
Podcast
- The 80,000 Hours Podcast
- 80k After Hours
- Effective Altruism: An Introduction
- Effective Altruism: Ten Global Problems
Get 1-1 advice
Newsletter
Book giveaway

New releases
All articles
Community
About
Work with us

Home Topics Problem areas Meta-causes

Search for:

New releases
All articles
Community
About
Work with us

Explore our archive by topic...

Big picture (95)
- Longtermism (40)
- Moral philosophy (38)
- Now vs. Later (7)
- True Impact (16)

Problem areas (280)
- Animal Welfare (22)
  - Factory Farming (14)
- Catastrophic risks (114)
  - Artificial Intelligence (39)
  - Biorisk reduction (26)
  - Climate change (12)
    - Geoengineering (2)
  - Nuclear security (16)
- COVID-19 (15)
- Developed world education (1)
- Future Generations (36)
- Global Poverty (44)
  - Appropriate Technology (2)
  - Biomedical Research (12)
  - Developing World Education (3)
  - Global Health (12)
  - Immigration Reform (3)
  - Microcredit (2)
  - School Building (1)
- Meta-causes (110)
  - Global Priorities Research (33)
  - Improving Decision Making (28)
  - Promoting Effective Altruism (64)
- Other causes (14)
  - Charter Cities (1)
  - Ending Ageing (1)
  - Gun Control (3)
  - Philosophy (5)
- Scientific research (27)
  - Biomedical Research (9)
  - Science policy and infrastructure (10)

Priority paths (135)
- AI policy (22)
- AI technical safety (26)
- Biorisk strategy & policy (20)
- China specialists (5)
- Earning to give in quant trading (6)
- Forecasting & related research and implementation (13)
- Grantmaker (14)
- Operations at high impact organisations (13)
- Global priorities research (34)
- Roles at effective altruism organisations (16)

Careers (344)
- Arts and Entertainment (4)
- Business (52)
  - Entrepreneurship (46)
    - Social entrepreneurship (8)
    - Startup early employee (4)
    - Tech Entrepreneurship (26)
  - Sales and marketing (2)
- Consulting (5)
- Data science (14)
- Design (2)
- Education (3)
- Engineering (29)
  - Software Engineering (23)
- Finance (18)
  - Asset Management (7)
    - Quantitative hedge funds (4)
  - Investment Banking (8)
- Freelance (1)
- Government (49)
  - Party Politics (9)
- Journalism (19)
  - Journalist (7)
- Law (9)
  - Lawyer (6)
- Medicine (18)
  - Doctor (11)
  - Medical Researcher (5)
- Nonprofit (59)
  - Foundations (13)
    - Foundation Program Management (9)
  - Founding effective nonprofits (31)
  - Fundraising (9)
  - Philanthropic Advising (8)
- Politics (46)
  - Civil Service (11)
  - Party Politics (18)
- Remote (1)
- Research (130)
  - Academic Research (75)
    - History (2)
  - Graduate study (37)
    - PhDs (33)
      - Computer science PhD (10)
      - Economics PhD (14)
  - Research manager (6)
- Resources (4)
Frameworks and planning (181)
- Career capital (47)
  - Skills (25)
    - Judgement (6)
- Career trends (4)
- Decision making (28)
- Decision Tools (32)
- Exploration (4)
- Frameworks (30)
  - Cause selection (7)
- Keeping options open (13)
- Personal fit (52)
  - Ability (19)
  - Job satisfaction (23)
- Rules of Thumb (18)
- Your Plan (24)
Other topics (169)
- Anonymous advice (18)
- Best resources (13)
- Effective Altruism (45)
- High Impact People (9)
- Job opportunities (12)
- Mental health (3)
- Motivation (3)
- Research principles (6)
- Unconventional advice (69)
- Volunteering (7)
- What to study (12)
Strategies (116)
- Advocacy (25)
- Earning to Give (80)
  - Donation effectiveness (12)
  - EtG advice (7)
  - EtG pros and cons (14)
  - Income (16)
- Influencing budgets (7)
Updates (42)

Topic archive: Meta-causes

Subtopics in "Meta-causes":

Global Priorities Research (33)
Improving Decision Making (28)
Promoting Effective Altruism (64)

Filter by content type:
All110
Podcasts43
Blog posts40
Career reviews13
Key articles11
Problem profiles3

All content tagged "Meta-causes"

2022

April

#127 – Sam Bankman-Fried on taking a high-risk approach to crypto and doing good
Podcast
#126 – Bryan Caplan on whether lazy parenting is OK, what really helps workers, and betting on beliefs
Podcast

March

Communication careers
Article
#123 – Samuel Charap on why Putin invaded Ukraine, the risk of escalation, and how to prevent disaster
Podcast
Operations management in high-impact organisations (Updated)
Article
Journalism (Updated)
Career review

February

Rob and Keiran on the philosophy of The 80,000 Hours Podcast [80k After Hours]
Podcast

2021

November

Government and policy in an area relevant to a top problem
Article
Organisation-building at effective nonprofits
Article
The growth of effective altruism: what does it mean for our priorities and level of ambition?
Blog post

October

Investigate a potentially pressing but unexplored global issue
Career review
Organise an effective altruism local group
Career review
Journalism
Career review
Public intellectual
Career review
Research management
Career review
Historian of large societal trends, inflection points, progress, or collapse
Career review
Forecasting and related research and implementation
Career review
Research into global priorities
Career review
Help build the effective altruism community
Career review
#112 – Carl Shulman on the common-sense case for existential risk work and its practical implications
Podcast

September

This could be the most important century
Article
#111 – Mushtaq Khan on using institutional economics to predict effective government reforms
Podcast

July

#105 – Alexander Berger on improving global health and wellbeing in clear and direct ways
Podcast

May

#101 – Robert Wright on using cognitive empathy to save the world
Podcast
#98 – Christian Tarsney on future bias and a possible solution to moral fanaticism
Podcast

March

#94 – Ezra Klein on aligning journalism, politics, and what matters most
Podcast

2020

December

#89 – Owen Cotton-Barratt on epistemic systems & layers of defense against potential global catastrophes
Podcast
#88 – Tristan Harris on the need to change the incentives of social media companies
Podcast

November

Benjamin Todd on what the effective altruism community most needs (80k team chat #4)
Podcast
#87 – Russ Roberts on whether it's more effective to help strangers, or people you know
Podcast

October

#86 – Hilary Greaves on Pascal's mugging, strong longtermism, and whether existing can be good for us
Podcast

September

Benjamin Todd on the core of effective altruism and how to argue for it (80k team chat #3)
Podcast
Benjamin Todd on varieties of longtermism and things 80,000 Hours might be getting wrong (80k team chat #2)
Podcast

August

Why I’ve come to think global priorities research is more important than I thought
Blog post
Misconceptions about effective altruism
Blog post

July

Building effective altruism (Updated)
Problem profile

June

#79 – A.J. Jacobs on radical honesty, following the whole Bible, and reframing global problems as puzzles
Podcast

May

#78 – Danny Hernandez on forecasting and measuring some of the most important drivers of AI progress
Podcast
Our current list of pressing world problems (Updated)
Article

April

Anonymous contributors answer: How should the effective altruism community think about diversity?
Blog post
What programmes will 80,000 Hours provide (and not provide) within the effective altruism community?
Blog post

March

#73 – Phil Trammell on patient philanthropy and waiting to do good
Podcast
#71 – Benjamin Todd on the key ideas of 80,000 Hours
Podcast
Anonymous contributors answer: What are the biggest flaws of the effective altruism community?
Blog post

February

Anonymous contributors answer: Should the effective altruism community grow faster or slower? And should it be broader, or narrower?
Blog post

January

#68 – Will MacAskill on the paralysis argument, whether we're at the hinge of history, & his new priorities
Podcast

2019

December

#66 – Peter Singer on provocative advocacy, EA, how his ethical views have changed, and drowning children
Podcast

June

#60 – Prof Tetlock on why accurate forecasting matters for everything, and how you can do it better
Podcast
#59 – Cass Sunstein on how social change happens, and why it's so often abrupt & unpredictable
Podcast

May

Recap: why do some organisations say their recent hires are worth so much?
Blog post

February

#53 – Kelsey Piper on the room for important advocacy within journalism
Podcast
#52 – Glen Weyl on uprooting capitalism and democracy for a just society
Podcast

January

#51 – Martin Gurri on the revolt of the public & crisis of authority in the information age
Podcast

2018

November

#48 – Brian Christian on better living through the wisdom of computer science
Podcast

October

What skills or experience are most needed within professional effective altruism in 2018? And which problems are most effective to work on? New survey of organisational leaders.
Blog post

September

Doing good together: how to coordinate effectively, and avoid single-player thinking
Article

August

Our current list of pressing world problems (First published)
Article
#39 – Spencer Greenberg on the scientific approach to solving difficult everyday questions.
Podcast
List of the most urgent global issues (Updated)
Article

July

#38 – Prof Yew-Kwang Ng on anticipating EA decades ago & how to make a much happier world
Podcast
#36 – Tanya Singh on ending the operations management bottleneck in effective altruism
Podcast
Global priorities research (Updated)
Problem profile

June

#35 – Tara Mac Aulay on the audacity to fix the world without asking permission
Podcast

May

#34 – We use the worst voting system that exists. Here's how Aaron Hamlin is going to fix it.
Podcast
#31 – Prof Allan Dafoe on defusing the political and economic risks posed by existing AI capabilities
Podcast

April

#28 – Dr Owen Cotton-Barratt on why scientists should need insurance, PhD strategy & what if AI progresses fast
Podcast

March

Operations management in high-impact organisations (First published)
Article
#25 – Prof Robin Hanson on why we have to lie to ourselves about why we do what we do
Podcast
#24 – Stefan Schubert on why it’s a bad idea to break the rules, even if it’s for a good cause
Podcast

2017

December

#16 – Dr Hutchinson on global priorities research & shaping the ideas of intellectuals
Podcast

November

#15 – Prof Tetlock on how chimps beat Berkeley undergrads and when it’s wise to defer to the wise
Podcast
What are the most important talent gaps in the effective altruism community?
Blog post

October

#10 – Dr Nick Beckstead on how to spend billions of dollars preventing human extinction
Podcast
#9 – Christine Peterson on how insecure computers could lead to global disaster, and how to fix it
Podcast

September

Improving institutional decision-making
Problem profile
#7 – Julia Galef on making humanity more rational, what EA does wrong, and why Twitter isn’t all bad
Podcast
Working at effective nonprofits
Career review

June

Working at effective altruist organisations
Career review

March

Building effective altruism (First published)
Problem profile
Some further resources on high-impact careers
Article

2016

December

80,000 Hours has a funding gap
Blog post

April

Global priorities research (First published)
Problem profile

February

We can learn a lot from Tara, who left pharmacy to work in effective altruism
Blog post
Plan change story: interview with Dillon Bowen, founder of Effective Altruism group at Tufts University
Blog post

2015

November

Working at effective altruist organisations: good or bad for career capital?
Blog post
One of the most exciting new effective altruist organisations: An interview with David Goldberg of the Founders Pledge
Blog post

July

Effective altruists love systemic change
Blog post

June

Journalism (First published)
Career review
Announcing the effective altruism handbook
Blog post
Donating to Giving What We Can is higher impact than donating to GiveWell recommended charities.
Blog post

April

The four big challenges
Blog post

2014

December

Interview with a project manager at the Copenhagen Consensus
Blog post

September

Cause overview: cause prioritisation
Blog post
Conversation with Paul Penley of Excellence in Giving
Blog post

August

Improving decision making (First published)
Article
Promoting effective altruism (First published)
Article
Founding effective nonprofits (international development) (First published)
Career review
Conversation with Paul Christiano on Cause Prioritization Research
Blog post
Conversation with Owen Cotton-Barratt of the Global Priorities Project
Blog post
List of the most urgent global issues (First published)
Article

July

Founding effective nonprofits (international development) (Updated)
Career review
Interview with Caroline Fiennes about opportunities in effective philanthropy
Blog post

April

The Copenhagen Consensus speaks to 80,000 Hours about global prioritisation
Blog post

January

Which cause is most effective?
Blog post
Case study: choosing between working at effective altruist organisations, earning to give, and graduate school
Blog post

2013

November

Improving decision making (Updated)
Article
Promoting effective altruism (Updated)
Article
An attempt to create a new AMF
Blog post
Case study: Working in the financial sector to promote a flourishing long-term future
Blog post
What should you do with a very large amount of money?
Blog post
Thoughts on my experience working at GiveWell
Blog post

October

Why I’m doing a PhD
Blog post
Interview with the founder of Giving Games
Blog post

July

Looking for a seriously high-impact job using your managerial skills?
Blog post

June

How to add value in international development: an interview with Eva Vivalt
Blog post

May

Looking for a seriously high impact job using your analytical skills?
Blog post

April

Interview with Holden Karnofsky, co-founder of GiveWell
Blog post

2012

November

Interview with Brian Tomasik
Blog post

April

The haste consideration
Blog post

Filter by content type:
All110
Podcasts43
Blog posts40
Career reviews13
Key articles11
Problem profiles3

Join our newsletter

Get twice-monthly updates featuring our latest research, events near you, and high-impact career opportunities.

Get 1-1 advice

Want to tackle a pressing global problem with your career?

Speak to an advisor

Our research

Overview: Key ideas
Especially pressing world problems
Effective altruism
Future generations
List of careers
Career guide (2017)
All our research

Take action

Plan your career
Find a job
Get 1-1 advice
Join our community

Follow us

Subscribe to our podcast
Join our newsletter
Follow us on Twitter
Join our LinkedIn group
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on YouTube

About us

Why 80,000 Hours?
Meet the team
Our donors
Media coverage
Our mistakes

We're affiliated with the Future of Humanity Institute and the Global Priorities Institute at the University of Oxford.

1aA

We're affiliated with the Future of Humanity Institute and the Global Priorities Institute at the University of Oxford.

We're part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, and work closely with Giving What We Can.

80,000 Hours is part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1149828) and a registered 501(c)(3) Exempt Organization in the USA (EIN 47-1988398).

Please contact us to suggest ideas, improvements, or corrections.

We do our best to provide useful information, but how you use the information is up to you. We don’t take responsibility for any loss that results from the use of information on the site. Please consult our full legal disclaimer and privacy policy.

© 2021 – all rights reserved. Please contact us if you wish to redistribute, translate, or adapt this work.

80,000 Hours is part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1149828) and a registered 501(c)(3) Exempt Organization in the USA (EIN 47-1988398).

Please contact us to suggest ideas, improvements, or corrections.

We do our best to provide useful information, but how you use the information is up to you. We don’t take responsibility for any loss that results from the use of information on the site. Please consult our full legal disclaimer and privacy policy.

© 2021 – all rights reserved. Please contact us if you wish to redistribute, translate, or adapt this work.