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Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: EA megaprojects continued, published by mariushobbhahn on December 3, 2021 on The Effective Altruism Forum. This post is a continuation/extension of the EA megaproject article by Nathan Young. Our list is by no means exhaustive, and everyone is welcome to extend it in the comments. The people who contributed to this article are in no particular order: Simon Grimm, Marius Hobbhahn, Max Räuker, Yannick Mühlhäuser and Jasper Götting. We would like to thank Aaron Gertler for his feedback and suggestions. Donating to GiveDirectly is often seen as a scalable baseline for the effectiveness of a project. Another scalable baseline could be investing in clean energy research. We don’t expect all of the following ideas to meet either bar. Some of them might just be interesting or thought-provoking. The value of these megaprojects depends, among other things, on your risk profile, your views on patient philanthropy and the option value of the idea. Movement building: There are many EA organizations in the larger space of “getting more EAs into the right position”, such as 80K, different scholarships, local chapters, etc. However, given that EA is currently more people- than resource-constrained, it seems plausible that there is much room for growth. Some people have argued to “keep EA small” (see here or here). However, we don’t think it makes sense to limit access to the movement to the extent that EA would stop growing. A plausible future role for EA in society might be similar to science. Everyone broadly knows what science is, and most people have a good opinion of it, but most people aren’t scientists themselves. Most scientific fields are competitive, select for highly talented people, and grow somewhere between linearly and exponentially. The goal should not be to approach as many people as possible (such as religions) but to approach and funnel talented individuals into the movement (such as sports organizations or universities). Ideas for bigger projects in the space of movement building include: 1. A large global scholarship foundation: EAs could build a foundation that helps young people with their choice of study while providing financial support, visas and mentorship during their studies. Such a foundation would also yield an extensive, global network of young, talented individuals. Furthermore, such a foundation can scout for talented individuals earlier on through similar events like existing math/science/coding/forecasting tournaments or recruiting in sports. Some of these elements already exist on a smaller and more informal scale, but a global institution would provide increased visibility, prestige, and scaling effects. Furthermore, a scholarship foundation could focus specifically on developing countries and identify talents who could migrate to richer countries. The aim would be to create an organization that lends as much prestige as Fulbright or Rhodes scholarships. 2. Buy a Big Newspaper: Philanthropists and other wealthy individuals regularly buy or own major news outlets (Jeff Bezos bought WaPo, Rupert Murdoch owns vast swathes of center-right to right-wing media). An affluent EA could buy a trusted newspaper and direct it in a more evidence-based direction, for instance, by incorporating forecasts into reporting or by highlighting certain positive developments that get neglected. Future Perfect has shown how EA-influenced reporting can have a place in a major news outlet, and the Ezra Klein show sometimes uses an EA-framing, but we think there is room for more. This could have a particularly relevant impact in non-English speaking countries. Science: 1. Fund very large RCTs/population-wide studies Conventional RCTs are often too underpowered for certain (often population-wide) relations. Nonetheless, knowing of these relationships can be impactful, as ...