The Importance of High Variance Interventions

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When you look at something like an antidepressant, they're measuring the average effect. But high variance things actually can be very appealing as long as there's not too much tail rest. So I think that you're taking the average effect, which is almost always what is studied in science is actually very misleading and not really what you care about when it comes to testing yourself on the individual level.

What are the best strategies for improving ourselves? How are line managers useful? Why does Rob prefer long-form content for the 80,000 Hours podcast? What are the sorts of things humans value and why? In what ways do research ethics considerations fail to achieve their stated objectives? Why are prediction markets useful?

Rob Wiblin is the Head of Research at 80,000 Hours where he investigates how people can do more good in the course of their career and produces a long-form interview show called the 80,000 Hours Podcast. He studied genetics and economics in Australia before moving to the UK to help develop the emerging field of effective altruism. You can learn more about Rob at robwiblin.com, learn more about his research work at 80000hours.org, and follow him on social media at @robertwiblin.

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