Social value of work: factors to consider - Revision history

Vipul at 22:57, 24 March 2014

2014-03-24T22:57:59Z

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	* [[Effective altruism learning resources]]		* [[Effective altruism learning resources]]
	* [[Choosing a career with effective altruism as a dominant consideration]]		* [[Choosing a career with effective altruism as a dominant consideration]]
			* [[:Category:Social value of particular activities]]

			==Social value of particular activities==

			{\| class="sortable" border="1"
			! Career name !! Discussion of social value
			\|-
			\| [[Finance as a career option\|Finance]] \|\| [[Social value of finance]]
			\|-
			\| [[Biomedical research as a career option\|Biomedical research]] \|\| [[Social value of biomedical research]]
			\|-
			\| [[Entrepreneurship as a career option\|Entrepreneurship]] \|\| [[Social value of entrepreneurship]]
			\|-
			\| [[Medicine as a career option\|Medicine]] \|\| [[Social value of medicine]]
			\|-
			\| [[Software engineering as a career option\|Software engineering]] \|\| [[Social value of software engineering]]
			\|-
			\| [[Academia as a career option\|Academia]] \|\| [[Social value of academia]]
			\|-
			\| Basic science research (overlaps with academia) \|\| [[Social value of basic science research]]
			\|}

Vipul: /* See also */

2014-03-06T03:15:20Z

Vipul at 03:14, 6 March 2014

2014-03-06T03:14:33Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:14, 6 March 2014
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	Once again, the [[social value of work: income as a proxy\|use of income as a proxy]] captures the replacability consideration to some extent: if you're hard to replace, people are probably willing to pay you more. And if your replacements themselves have alternative jobs of high value they could be doing instead, then people are willing to pay you more.		Once again, the [[social value of work: income as a proxy\|use of income as a proxy]] captures the replacability consideration to some extent: if you're hard to replace, people are probably willing to pay you more. And if your replacements themselves have alternative jobs of high value they could be doing instead, then people are willing to pay you more.

			==Other points==

			* In many cases, the job may not create much social value by default, but it may put you in a position of authority or power that allows you to make discretionary choices that greatly affect social value. For instance, if you train as a scientist, you may have the requisite credentials that your views on some important issue (such as vaccines or GM crops) will be taken seriously. If you train as an economist, your views on government economic policy may be taken seriously. This is closely related to the replacability criterion discussed above.
			* One way of generating social value while working, but not directly through work, is by practicing [[wikipedia:earning to give\|earning to give]]: choose careers, or make work-related choices, that increase your earning, and then give away the extra earning for philanthropic purposes.
			* There may be be a trade-off between trying to create social value immediately and trying to progress in acquiring knowledge, skills, and credentials that can be leveraged to have higher impact later.

			==See also==

			* [[Social value of work: income as a proxy]]
			* [[Effective altruism learning resources]]
			* [[Choosing a career for effective altruist goals]]

Vipul at 05:16, 4 February 2014

2014-02-04T05:16:39Z

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	Some jobs '''harm''' customers on balance. This is arguably true of casino workers, who enable compulsive gambling addiction, which can ruin people's lives.		Some jobs '''harm''' customers on balance. This is arguably true of casino workers, who enable compulsive gambling addiction, which can ruin people's lives.

	A very rough indicator of how much you help your customers is how much they're willing to pay you. For example, Steve Jobs created products that many people were willing to pay a lot for, because they found them valuable, and as a result became a multi-billionaire. For more on why earnings can be a decent proxy for social value, see [[social value of work: income as proxy]].		A very rough indicator of how much you help your customers is how much they're willing to pay you. For example, Steve Jobs created products that many people were willing to pay a lot for, because they found them valuable, and as a result became a multi-billionaire. For more on why earnings can be a decent proxy for social value, see [[social value of work: income as a proxy]].

	==Indirect effects: flow-through effects and externalities==		==Indirect effects: flow-through effects and externalities==
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	Another remark: the point about replaceability is also relevant to jobs that harm people on balance. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that lots of people are willing and able to do, you won't harm people very much. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that nobody's willing or able to do, you'll harm people a lot.		Another remark: the point about replaceability is also relevant to jobs that harm people on balance. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that lots of people are willing and able to do, you won't harm people very much. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that nobody's willing or able to do, you'll harm people a lot.

	Once again, the [[social value of work: income as proxy\|use of income as a proxy]] captures the replacability consideration to some extent: if you're hard to replace, people are probably willing to pay you more. And if your replacements themselves have alternative jobs of high value they could be doing instead, then people are willing to pay you more.		Once again, the [[social value of work: income as a proxy\|use of income as a proxy]] captures the replacability consideration to some extent: if you're hard to replace, people are probably willing to pay you more. And if your replacements themselves have alternative jobs of high value they could be doing instead, then people are willing to pay you more.

Vipul at 05:16, 4 February 2014

2014-02-04T05:16:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:16, 4 February 2014
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	Your capacity to help people through your work depends heavily on the job that you take. Some professions help people a great deal, others help people to a slight degree, others don't help people at all on balance, and others harm people on balance. Some things to consider when thinking about how much social value you can contribute in a given job are:		Your capacity to help people through your work depends heavily on the job that you take. Some professions help people a great deal, others help people to a slight degree, others don't help people at all on balance, and others harm people on balance. Some things to consider when thinking about how much social value you can contribute in a given job are:

	* '''~~The effect of your product~~ on ~~customer's lives~~''' — How much does your product help the people who buy what you produce, relative to how much they pay for it? Does it dramatically improve their lives? Is it a convenience that they could do without? Does buying it make their lives worse?		* '''Direct effects on customers''' — How much does your product help the people who buy what you produce, relative to how much they pay for it? Does it dramatically improve their lives? Is it a convenience that they could do without? Does buying it make their lives worse?
	* '''~~Positive~~ externalities''' ~~— Does your product indirectly~~ benefit ~~people other than those who buy it?~~		* '''Effects on people who benefit indirectly''': This includes externalities and flow-through effects. For instance, if you provide good medical care to somebody, and that person's work productivity improves to the point that they contribute through ''their'' job, then that is an indirect benefit to their customers. Such indirect effects may be positive or negative.
	* '''~~Negative externalities~~''' ~~— Does your product indirectly harm people~~ other ~~than those who buy it?~~		* '''Replacability''' (the use of counterfactuals): Replacability works two ways: what other work ''you'' could be doing instead (which you are likely already factoring in), and who your counterfactual replacement at the job would be.
	* '''~~Replaceability~~'~~'' — Is~~ your ~~work something that nobody else~~ would ~~do as well as you can?~~

	~~I've elaborated on these considerations below, and you can read about how they apply to various careers under [[case studies of social value of work]]~~		== Direct effects on customers ==

	== ~~The effect of your product~~ on ~~customer's lives~~ ==

	Some jobs benefit customers '''enormously'''. For example, doctors who screen patients for breast cancer can recognize breast cancer at an early stage when it's most treatable, saving patient's lives.		Some jobs benefit customers '''enormously'''. For example, doctors who screen patients for breast cancer can recognize breast cancer at an early stage when it's most treatable, saving patient's lives.
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	Some jobs '''harm''' customers on balance. This is arguably true of casino workers, who enable compulsive gambling addiction, which can ruin people's lives.		Some jobs '''harm''' customers on balance. This is arguably true of casino workers, who enable compulsive gambling addiction, which can ruin people's lives.

	A very rough indicator of how much you help your customers is how much they're willing to pay you. For example, Steve Jobs created products that many people were willing to pay a lot for, because they found them valuable, and as a result became a multi-billionaire.		A very rough indicator of how much you help your customers is how much they're willing to pay you. For example, Steve Jobs created products that many people were willing to pay a lot for, because they found them valuable, and as a result became a multi-billionaire. For more on why earnings can be a decent proxy for social value, see [[social value of work: income as proxy]].

			==Indirect effects: flow-through effects and externalities==

			===Flow-through effects: customers of customers, and customers of customers of customers===

			In some cases, your work may improve the ability of your customers to serve their customers. Examples:

	~~== Positive externalities ==~~		* You run a company providing high-quality home Internet connections. Some of your customers design websites from the home, and the high-quality Internet connection helps them test their websites which improve the lives of their customers.
			* A hospital has contracted with you to do its laundry. If you run the laundry service effectively, you can reduce the infection transmission rate of the hospital, thereby making life better for the customers of the hospital (the patients). These patients in turn are more productive at work, which affects their customers.

	~~Some jobs benefit people other than~~ the customers. ~~For example~~, ~~good educators~~ can ~~enable students to contribute more to society than~~ they ~~would otherwise be able~~ to ~~when they join the work force~~.		In general, serving your customers well is the most reliable way of making sure you are having positive effects on the customers of your customers. It is, however, possible that in some cases, serving your customers well can actually harm ''their'' customers or others whom they have an effect on. For instance, you might provide banking services to a business that defrauds its customers regularly.

	~~== Negative externalities ==~~		The following general points are worth noting:

	~~Some jobs harm~~ people ~~other than~~ customers. ~~For example~~, ~~lawyers~~ who ~~defend parties that are guilty~~ in ~~the context of lawsuits may harm the~~ people ~~who file legitimate lawsuits by reducing~~ the ~~chances that their lawsuits will succeed~~.		* '''Subjective value criterion''': ''Ceteris paribus'', the greater the subjective value you provide your customers, the greater the value you generate in flow-through effects.
			* '''Productivity enhancement criterion''': Providing value to customers in areas that affect their productivity is likely to generate more flow-through effects than providing value to them in leisure areas -- even controlling for their experience of subjective value. However, improving people's leisure experience ''can'' have positive flow-through effects if it improves their mood and thereby their productivity.
			* '''Value created by customers criterion''': Providing value to customers who generate more value for others will, ''ceteris paribus'', generate higher flow-through effects. Thus, for instance, providing Internet access to somebody who spends the whole day playing video games is probably likely to generate less social value in flow-through effects than providing Internet access to somebody who intends to tutor people over the Internet.

	== ~~Replaceability~~ ==		In general, flow-through effects are likely to be captured to quite an extent by the money one can charge. In particular, note that customers are willing to pay more when they experience greater subjective value (because that inclines them to pay more), when it improves their productivity (because that directly improves the amount of money they have at their disposal), and when they themselves create more value (because they are probabilistically likely to themselves earn more and therefore have more to spend).

			==Replacability==

	Just because a job contributes a lot of value doesn't mean that you can contribute the same amount of value by taking it. Food production is crucial for people's ability to live. But there's not a shortage of people who are available to produce food. So if you take a job in food production, you won't be crucial to people's ability to live — if you weren't doing it, somebody else would be.		Just because a job contributes a lot of value doesn't mean that you can contribute the same amount of value by taking it. Food production is crucial for people's ability to live. But there's not a shortage of people who are available to produce food. So if you take a job in food production, you won't be crucial to people's ability to live — if you weren't doing it, somebody else would be.
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	In general, you can help people the most through your work by taking a job that helps people ''and'' that other people wouldn't be doing (or wouldn't be doing as well as you) if you didn't take it.		In general, you can help people the most through your work by taking a job that helps people ''and'' that other people wouldn't be doing (or wouldn't be doing as well as you) if you didn't take it.

	~~A final~~ remark: the point about replaceability is also relevant to jobs that harm people on balance. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that lots of people are willing and able to do, you won't harm people very much. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that nobody's willing or able to do, you'll harm people a lot.		Another remark: the point about replaceability is also relevant to jobs that harm people on balance. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that lots of people are willing and able to do, you won't harm people very much. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that nobody's willing or able to do, you'll harm people a lot.

			Once again, the [[social value of work: income as proxy\|use of income as a proxy]] captures the replacability consideration to some extent: if you're hard to replace, people are probably willing to pay you more. And if your replacements themselves have alternative jobs of high value they could be doing instead, then people are willing to pay you more.

Vipul: Vipul moved page Social value of work to Social value of work: factors to consider

2014-01-08T03:38:33Z

Vipul moved page Social value of work to Social value of work: factors to consider

← Older revision	Revision as of 03:38, 8 January 2014
(No difference)

Jsinick: /* Replaceability */

2013-09-26T21:53:50Z

Replaceability

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:53, 26 September 2013
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	Just because a job contributes a lot of value doesn't mean that you can contribute the same amount of value by taking it. Food production is crucial for people's ability to live. But there's not a shortage of people who are available to produce food. So if you take a job in food production, you won't be crucial to people's ability to live — if you weren't doing it, somebody else would be.		Just because a job contributes a lot of value doesn't mean that you can contribute the same amount of value by taking it. Food production is crucial for people's ability to live. But there's not a shortage of people who are available to produce food. So if you take a job in food production, you won't be crucial to people's ability to live — if you weren't doing it, somebody else would be.

	It's important to note that by taking a job that someone else could have done, you free that person up to contribute social value by taking a different job. So the value that you contribute isn't just the value that you contribute beyond the value that your hypothetical replacement would be contributing – it also includes the value that your hypothetical replacement contributes in his or her own job. The point is just that calculating the value that you contribute isn't as simple as the value that the job itself contributes: it's possible that you can contribute more by taking a job that contributes less to society than you could by taking a job that contributes more to society but that a lot of other people could do.		It's important to note that by taking a job that someone else could have done, you free that person up to contribute social value by taking a different job. So the value that you contribute isn't just the value that you contribute beyond the value that your hypothetical replacement would be contributing – it also includes the value that your hypothetical replacement contributes in his or her own job.

	In general, you can help people the most by taking a job that helps people ''and'' that other people wouldn't be doing (or wouldn't be doing as well as you) if you didn't take it.		The point is that calculating the value that you contribute isn't as simple as the value that the job itself contributes: it's possible that you can contribute more by taking a job that contributes less to society than you could by taking a job that contributes more to society but that a lot of other people could do.

			In general, you can help people the most through your work by taking a job that helps people ''and'' that other people wouldn't be doing (or wouldn't be doing as well as you) if you didn't take it.

			A final remark: the point about replaceability is also relevant to jobs that harm people on balance. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that lots of people are willing and able to do, you won't harm people very much. If you take a job in an industry that harms people that nobody's willing or able to do, you'll harm people a lot.

Jsinick: /* The effect of your product on customer's lives */

2013-09-26T21:51:41Z

The effect of your product on customer's lives

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:51, 26 September 2013
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	Some jobs '''harm''' customers on balance. This is arguably true of casino workers, who enable compulsive gambling addiction, which can ruin people's lives.		Some jobs '''harm''' customers on balance. This is arguably true of casino workers, who enable compulsive gambling addiction, which can ruin people's lives.

			A very rough indicator of how much you help your customers is how much they're willing to pay you. For example, Steve Jobs created products that many people were willing to pay a lot for, because they found them valuable, and as a result became a multi-billionaire.

	== Positive externalities ==		== Positive externalities ==

Jsinick: /* Replaceability */

2013-09-26T21:44:07Z

Replaceability

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:44, 26 September 2013
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	Just because a job contributes a lot of value doesn't mean that you can contribute the same amount of value by taking it. Food production is crucial for people's ability to live. But there's not a shortage of people who are available to produce food. So if you take a job in food production, you won't be crucial to people's ability to live — if you weren't doing it, somebody else would be.		Just because a job contributes a lot of value doesn't mean that you can contribute the same amount of value by taking it. Food production is crucial for people's ability to live. But there's not a shortage of people who are available to produce food. So if you take a job in food production, you won't be crucial to people's ability to live — if you weren't doing it, somebody else would be.

			It's important to note that by taking a job that someone else could have done, you free that person up to contribute social value by taking a different job. So the value that you contribute isn't just the value that you contribute beyond the value that your hypothetical replacement would be contributing – it also includes the value that your hypothetical replacement contributes in his or her own job. The point is just that calculating the value that you contribute isn't as simple as the value that the job itself contributes: it's possible that you can contribute more by taking a job that contributes less to society than you could by taking a job that contributes more to society but that a lot of other people could do.

	In general, you can help people the most by taking a job that helps people ''and'' that other people wouldn't be doing (or wouldn't be doing as well as you) if you didn't take it.		In general, you can help people the most by taking a job that helps people ''and'' that other people wouldn't be doing (or wouldn't be doing as well as you) if you didn't take it.

Jsinick at 21:23, 26 September 2013

2013-09-26T21:23:29Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:23, 26 September 2013
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	* '''Replaceability''' — Is your work something that nobody else would do as well as you can?		* '''Replaceability''' — Is your work something that nobody else would do as well as you can?

	I've elaborated on these considerations below, and you can read about how they apply to various careers under [~~Case~~ studies of social value of work]		I've elaborated on these considerations below, and you can read about how they apply to various careers under [[case studies of social value of work]]

	== The effect of your product on customer's lives ==		== The effect of your product on customer's lives ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:15, 6 March 2014
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	* [[Social value of work: income as a proxy]]		* [[Social value of work: income as a proxy]]
	* [[Effective altruism learning resources]]		* [[Effective altruism learning resources]]
	* [[Choosing a career ~~for~~ effective ~~altruist goals~~]]		* [[Choosing a career with effective altruism as a dominant consideration]]