“Valuing Impacts Across Species: A Research Agenda” by Bob Fischer, Hayley Clatterbuck, arvomm, David_Moss, Derek Shiller

Rethink Priorities' Worldview Investigations Team is sharing research agendas that provide overviews of some key research areas as well as projects in those areas that we would be keen to pursue. This is the first of three such agendas to be posted in November 2024. If we want to do the most good per dollar, then we need to measure the value of various outcomes on a common scale. In some contexts, however, those outcomes include benefits to members of different species, forcing a question about the relative value of human and nonhuman welfare. Unsurprisingly, any answer involves taking stances on a host of controversial claims about which there's deep uncertainty. As Holden Karnofksy once observed, this uncertainty matters: Some people think that animals such as chickens have essentially no moral significance compared to that of humans; others think that they should be considered comparably important, or at [...] ---Outline:(01:56) Differences in Capacity for Welfare(05:29) Can we dodge the question?(07:56) The challenge of estimating chickens’ capacity for welfare(08:38) Selecting a theory of welfare(11:53) Identifying what would count as evidence of variation(13:12) Finding evidence of variation(14:15) Producing overall estimates(14:59) How important is each challenge?(16:14) The challenge of assessing welfare(17:11) The need for a cardinal scale(20:01) Adapting existing welfare assessment frameworks(22:59) How important is it to refine our welfare assessment methods?(23:58) Questioning our two starting assumptions(25:03) Uncertainty about EV maximization(26:54) Uncertainty about simple aggregation(29:38) The significance of uncertainty about our two starting options(31:07) Project proposals(31:16) Beyond hedonism(32:28) Stated and revealed preferences(34:44) Scalar Proxies(36:05) Pain Category Aggregation(37:27) Animal Welfare in Benefit-Cost Analysis(38:42) Welfare Propensities(40:01) Alternatives to Welfare Ranges(41:12) States Worse than Death?(42:23) Moral Weights Under Uncertainty(43:10) AcknowledgmentsThe original text contained 20 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. The original text contained 3 images which were described by AI. --- First published: November 4th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/bNDPXRELHZjJoHhMs/valuing-impacts-across-species-a-research-agenda --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.