The Value of Doing Self Improvement Experiments

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Sally Kohn: I think one topic related to self improvement that we might disagree on is the value of doing self improvement experiments. She says it can kind of prompt people to feel very anxious about the future or just to feel depressed about their performance. Kohn: It's hard in social science to test these things because they're potentially looking for relatively small effects that are going to be washed out by ordinary life.

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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