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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2016-07-09 14:45, William Flynn
Wallace wrote:<br>
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<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic
sans
ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0);display:inline">Yes,
there is a difference between a puzzle and a problem, but
where are the guidelines here? Why not solve all
important problems? ??? If they weren't interfering with
the human race they would not be called important. Some
explication is needed here. <br>
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<br>
Gender equality, world hunger, and avoiding extinction-level nuclear
war are all important. But if you fail at solving the last one
having found solutions to the other two is pretty moot. <br>
<br>
Xrisks are special because they cut off all the good of the future,
so stopping them early has a great deal of value. Some problems have
multiplicative effects on other things: deworming in subsaharan
Africa does not just making kids healthier, but also improves school
results and intelligence, which in turn boosts the economy. Fixing
ageing fixes a host of other chronic diseases plus boosts human
capital. Meta-problems are often under-researched, elastic and
useful to solve early.<br>
<br>
I sketch out some ways to select problems right in this little
essay, with some medicine-related examples in the final section:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.aleph.se/presentations/What%20questions.pdf">http://www.aleph.se/presentations/What%20questions.pdf</a><br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Dr Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Oxford University
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