How To Find The Perfect Career - The 3 Part Decision Framework

Ali Abdaal
2 Sept 202214:45

Summary

TLDRThis video script from the Career Club series explores the three facets of a fulfilling career: making money, having fun, and helping people. It discusses the diminishing returns of income on happiness, the importance of job characteristics for enjoyment, and the myth of following passion for career choice. The script emphasizes the significance of problem area, effectiveness, and personal fit when aiming to help others through one's career. It also highlights the value of experimentation and skill development for career impact, and introduces 80,000 Hours, a non-profit organization that provides resources to help individuals make high-impact career decisions.

Takeaways

  • 💰 Money is important for career decisions but can lead to bias when it becomes the primary consideration. Beyond a certain income level, additional money has diminishing returns on happiness.
  • 📈 The 'marginal utility of extra money' graph illustrates that happiness derived from income plateaus after a certain point, suggesting money is a 'satisficing' good rather than a 'maximizing' one.
  • 🎯 Once financial needs are met, career satisfaction shifts towards enjoyment and fulfillment, which are also 'satisficing' goods, meaning we seek enough enjoyment rather than constantly maximizing it.
  • 🔍 Choosing a career for enjoyment involves understanding what makes a job enjoyable and incorporating those elements, rather than chasing an unattainable 'perfect' job.
  • 🚀 Cal Newport's concept emphasizes that rather than solely following passions, one should build career capital by excelling in a chosen field, which can then be leveraged for greater autonomy and enjoyment.
  • 🧪 Experimentation is crucial in career choice; it's recommended to try out different roles or industries before committing to a long-term career path.
  • 🤔 The importance of helping others through one's career is highlighted, with a focus on identifying problems, assessing effectiveness, and ensuring personal fit.
  • 🌐 The script introduces the concept of 'problem area', urging individuals to consider the scale and neglectedness of the issues they aim to address through their careers.
  • 🛠️ Effectiveness in a career is not just about the size of the problem but also the feasibility of making a difference and the individual's capacity to contribute meaningfully.
  • 👤 Personal fit is essential for a fulfilling career; it's important to choose a field where one can excel and enjoy the work, aligning with one's strengths and interests.
  • 🔗 Developing useful and transferable skills can increase effectiveness in any career, thereby enhancing personal fulfillment and the ability to help others.
  • 📚 The video recommends 80,000 Hours, a non-profit organization offering free resources to help individuals make high-impact career decisions.

Q & A

  • What are the three main facets of finding the perfect career according to the transcript?

    -The three main facets of finding the perfect career are making money, having fun, and helping people.

  • What is the problem with using money as the primary consideration in career decisions?

    -The problem with using money as the primary consideration is that it can lead to an overemphasis on increasing income beyond the point where it contributes to happiness, which is known as diminishing marginal utility.

  • What is the concept of 'satisficing' in the context of career choices?

    -Satisficing refers to the idea of choosing something that is good enough rather than constantly seeking more, which is applicable to both money and enjoyment in a career.

  • How does the transcript suggest we should approach the idea of having fun in our careers?

    -The transcript suggests that having fun in a career is also a satisficing good, and we should aim for a career that provides enough enjoyment without overpursuing it.

  • What is the role of experimentation in choosing a career that provides enjoyment?

    -Experimentation is important for understanding whether a particular career will be enjoyable. It involves trying out different roles or gaining experience to see if the career aligns with one's expectations and enjoyment.

  • Why is it a mistake to follow your passions as suggested by Cal Newport in the transcript?

    -Following your passions can be a mistake because activities that we enjoy, like playing video games or watching Netflix, are often not sustainable as careers. Instead, we should find a career that fits our lifestyle and then excel within it.

  • What is the significance of the problem area when considering a career that helps people?

    -The significance of the problem area is to identify the scale and importance of the issue being addressed. It's important to work on problems that are both significant and neglected to maximize impact.

  • How does the transcript define effectiveness in the context of helping people through a career?

    -Effectiveness is defined by how much good one can do in a particular career, considering the size of the problem, the neglectedness of the issue, and the individual's ability to contribute meaningfully to solving it.

  • What is the importance of personal fit when choosing a career that helps people?

    -Personal fit is crucial because if you don't enjoy or aren't good at the work in the area you're trying to help with, you won't be effective, which diminishes the overall impact of your career.

  • How can one develop useful skills to increase their effectiveness in a career?

    -One can develop useful skills such as communication, public speaking, and persuasion, which are compounding skills applicable across various careers and can increase effectiveness.

  • What resource is offered by 80,000 Hours to help individuals find a fulfilling and impactful career?

    -80,000 Hours offers a free careers guide and newsletter that provide step-by-step guidance and updates on high-impact jobs and research on careers that are fulfilling and enjoyable.

Outlines

00:00

💼 Balancing Money, Fun, and Impact in Your Career

This paragraph introduces the key facets of finding a fulfilling career: making money, having fun, and helping others. The series 'Career Club' aims to explore strategies to achieve these goals. The speaker mentions a partnership with 80,000 Hours, a non-profit that helps people find impactful and enjoyable careers, aligning with the video's theme.

05:01

💸 The Role of Money in Career Choices

The focus here is on the importance of money in career decisions, acknowledging that while money is essential, it should not be the sole focus. The speaker discusses the diminishing returns of money on happiness after a certain income level and introduces the concept of 'satisficing' versus 'maximizing' when making financial decisions in one's career.

10:02

😄 Finding Enjoyment in Your Career

This section discusses the importance of enjoying your career. It emphasizes that fun should be seen as a satisficing good, where having 'enough' fun is more sustainable than constantly seeking higher levels of enjoyment. The speaker highlights factors that contribute to job satisfaction, such as autonomy, good colleagues, and personal growth.

🎯 The Myth of 'Follow Your Passion'

The speaker critiques the idea of 'following your passion,' arguing that it is unrealistic for most people. Instead, it's better to choose a career that aligns with a desired lifestyle and to excel in it. Skill development and career capital are highlighted as keys to increasing enjoyment and autonomy in any job.

🔬 Experimenting with Career Choices

This paragraph emphasizes the importance of experimentation in choosing a career. The speaker advises against making long-term commitments, like going to medical school, without first testing the waters through short-term experiences. The idea is to make informed decisions based on practical exposure rather than assumptions.

🌍 The Value of Helping Others in Your Career

This section explores the desire to help others through one's career. It discusses how choosing to work on significant, neglected problems can lead to greater impact. The speaker uses examples like climate change and AI safety to illustrate how working in underrepresented areas can maximize one's contribution to society.

🧩 Effectiveness and Personal Fit in Career Choices

The final section delves into the importance of being effective and having a personal fit in your chosen career. It highlights that even if a problem is significant, if one lacks the skills or interest to contribute effectively, the impact will be limited. The speaker stresses the value of developing general, transferable skills to enhance both personal satisfaction and impact.

📚 Resources for Career Impact: 80,000 Hours

The speaker promotes 80,000 Hours, a non-profit offering free resources to help people make impactful career decisions. They emphasize the importance of considering long-term impact and offer a guide and newsletter for further exploration. The video closes with an invitation to check out related content on long-termism and impactful career choices.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Career

Career is a central theme of the video, referring to an individual's professional journey and the series of occupations undertaken throughout their life. The script discusses the importance of aligning one's career with financial needs, enjoyment, and the ability to help others, which are presented as the three facets of finding a perfect career.

💡Money

In the context of the video, money is identified as a significant factor in career decisions, but it is also noted as a potential source of bias, as societal status and materialism can skew one's career choices. The script mentions that beyond a certain income threshold, the marginal utility of money decreases, implying that additional income does not proportionally increase happiness.

💡Enjoyment

Enjoyment is one of the three facets of a perfect career, as per the video. It is associated with the intrinsic satisfaction and happiness one derives from their work. The script suggests that while enjoyment is important, it is a 'satisficing' good, meaning that there is a point of diminishing returns where seeking more enjoyment does not necessarily lead to more happiness.

💡Helping People

Helping people is presented as a fulfilling aspect of a career that contributes to personal satisfaction and a sense of purpose. The script emphasizes the importance of choosing a career that allows one to make a meaningful impact on the world, which is closely tied to the concept of effective altruism.

💡Social Status

Social status is discussed in the script as a driving force behind the pursuit of money and career success. It is implied that societal pressures can lead individuals to prioritize money and status over other aspects of career fulfillment, such as enjoyment and helping others.

💡Satisficing

Satisficing is a concept introduced in the script to describe the point at which an individual is content with what they have, such as a sufficient amount of money or enjoyment, and does not feel the need to pursue more aggressively. It is used to illustrate the idea that beyond a certain point, additional gains in money or enjoyment do not necessarily improve one's career satisfaction.

💡Maximizing

Maximizing is contrasted with satisficing in the script, referring to the relentless pursuit of the best possible outcome, such as the highest salary or the most enjoyment. The video suggests that while maximizing can be applied to certain goods, it is not always the best approach, especially when it comes to career satisfaction.

💡Career Capital

Career capital is a term used in the script to describe the value or assets one accumulates in their career, such as skills, knowledge, and reputation. It is suggested that developing career capital can lead to increased autonomy and enjoyment in one's work, as well as the ability to make a greater impact.

💡Autonomy

Autonomy is mentioned in the script as a component of a fulfilling career, referring to the freedom and independence one has in their work. It is suggested that having autonomy can contribute to the enjoyment of one's career and is a result of building career capital.

💡Experimentation

Experimentation is highlighted in the script as a crucial part of finding a fulfilling career. It involves trying out different roles or jobs to understand what one truly enjoys and is good at. The script warns against making long-term career commitments without sufficient exploration and experimentation.

💡Effective Altruism

Effective altruism is a philosophy and social movement that the video script aligns with. It is about using evidence and reason to find the most effective ways to benefit others, which is closely related to the concept of choosing a career that helps people. The script mentions 80,000 Hours, an organization that supports this philosophy and provides resources for individuals seeking to make high-impact career choices.

💡Problem Area

Problem area refers to the specific issue or challenge that an individual's career is aimed at addressing. The script discusses the importance of identifying a significant and neglected problem area when choosing a career that helps people, as this can maximize the impact of one's work.

💡Effectiveness

Effectiveness in the context of the video pertains to the ability to make a tangible difference in one's chosen career. The script emphasizes the importance of not only identifying a significant problem but also assessing how effectively one can contribute to solving it.

💡Personal Fit

Personal fit is a concept discussed in the script that relates to the compatibility between an individual's skills, interests, and the demands of their career. It is suggested that having a good personal fit can enhance one's effectiveness and enjoyment in their work.

Highlights

The importance of finding a career that aligns with making money, having fun, and helping people.

Money as a satisficing good with diminishing marginal utility beyond a certain income threshold.

The concept of satisficing versus maximizing goods in career decision-making.

The bias towards striving for more money and social status in career choices.

The three-part framework for career enjoyment: career choice, job characteristics, and personal fit.

The argument against following passions for career choices, as suggested by Cal Newport.

The value of low-risk experimentation in career exploration before committing to a long-term path.

The significance of autonomy and career capital in making a job enjoyable.

The importance of personal fit and effectiveness in choosing a career that helps you help others.

The concept of expected value in evaluating the scale and neglectedness of problems to work on.

The disparity between funding and attention given to different global issues like climate change and AI safety.

The idea that personal fit and skill development are crucial for career effectiveness.

The role of neglectedness in choosing a high-impact career area.

The impact of career choices on personal fulfillment and meaningfulness.

The importance of developing compounding skills for career effectiveness.

80,000 Hours as a resource for actionable career guidance and their focus on high-impact careers.

The connection between career choices and long-term global problems, as discussed in 'What We Owe the Future'.

Transcripts

play00:00

right so if you ask most people what

play00:01

they want from their careers they'll say

play00:03

some combination of I want to make money

play00:04

I want to have fun and I want to help

play00:06

people and those are the three facets of

play00:08

finding your perfect career that we're

play00:10

going to explore in this episode of

play00:11

career Club the new and ongoing Series

play00:13

where we discuss strategies and tools to

play00:15

find and succeed in our perfect career

play00:17

that lets us have enjoyment and

play00:18

fulfillment and also have a meaningful

play00:20

impact on the world and this video is

play00:21

made in partnership with 80 000 hours of

play00:23

fantastic non-profit organization whose

play00:26

aim is to help people have more impact

play00:27

while having a fulfilling and enjoyable

play00:29

career which very much Vibes with my

play00:31

whole thing in the series but I'll tell

play00:32

you more about 80 000 hours towards the

play00:34

end of the video part one I want to make

play00:36

money in my career right so obviously

play00:37

money is an important part about making

play00:39

decisions about a career but the problem

play00:40

is that money is also a very easily

play00:43

measurable scorecard that we can use to

play00:45

define our social status now this is a

play00:48

problem it's a problem because in the

play00:49

capitalistic and like materially driven

play00:51

and the social status seeking society

play00:54

that we live in and that who we are deep

play00:55

down we're all status seeking monkeys at

play00:57

the end of the day because of all this

play00:58

stuff there is an intrinsic bias that we

play00:59

we have two words trying to strive for

play01:01

more and more because we're always

play01:03

trying to get more social status and

play01:04

therefore we're always inevitably going

play01:06

to be trying to make more money in our

play01:08

careers now there is nothing wrong with

play01:09

this per se but it becomes a problem

play01:11

when we start thinking of making more

play01:13

and more and more money as being the

play01:14

primary consideration when it comes to

play01:16

making decisions about a career now you

play01:17

might have come across this graph before

play01:18

this is the marginal utility of extra

play01:21

money graph that shows that at the start

play01:23

of your career when you're not making

play01:24

any money making more and more money

play01:26

does translate to more and more

play01:27

happiness because it removes money

play01:29

problems from your life but beyond a

play01:30

certain point and usually studies say

play01:32

that point is around about seventy

play01:33

thousand dollars if you're in the US or

play01:35

like sixty thousand pounds if you're in

play01:36

the UK Beyond a certain point you start

play01:38

getting diminishing marginal utility so

play01:40

extra money does not actually contribute

play01:42

to extra happiness and the way that I

play01:43

personally like to think of this is that

play01:44

money is a satisficing good so there's

play01:46

two different types of like good

play01:48

quantities that we can have when it

play01:50

comes to making decisions there's

play01:51

satisficing and then there is maximizing

play01:53

now satisficing is when we say hey this

play01:55

thing is good enough so I'm not going to

play01:57

bother trying to get more and more and

play01:58

more when we're choosing a flavor of jam

play02:00

in the supermarket we just want

play02:02

something that's good enough we're not

play02:03

like trying to optimize the hell to

play02:04

figure out like oh my God what's the

play02:05

absolute best strawberry jam imaginable

play02:07

it's a satisficing good it's like yeah

play02:09

it's a good enough Jam I enjoy the jam I

play02:11

don't really have to think about it much

play02:12

more than that but then we have

play02:13

maximizing Goods where it's like hey I

play02:14

want to actually do whatever I can to

play02:16

make the absolute best decision here and

play02:18

that's what we end up sort of

play02:19

overthinking the hell out of everything

play02:20

so practically speaking obviously making

play02:22

money is a consideration in your career

play02:23

but just like the main point to keep in

play02:25

mind it's a satisfied good beyond the

play02:27

point you can kind of ignore the money

play02:28

side of things and you can move on to

play02:30

the other things that make a perfect

play02:31

career I.E having fun and helping people

play02:33

part two I want to have fun in my career

play02:35

so once we've got the make money side of

play02:37

the equation taken care of or at least

play02:39

considered the next thing we want to do

play02:40

is have fun we want to enjoy our careers

play02:42

we want to feel happy and fulfilled and

play02:44

want to feel like the things that we're

play02:45

doing are meaningful and within this

play02:46

concept of having fun there are three

play02:48

ways that I like to think about it in

play02:49

terms of a framework for making

play02:50

decisions about my career the first one

play02:52

is about choosing the kind of career

play02:54

that I'm in to maximize my enjoyment but

play02:56

when I say maximize my enjoyment again

play02:58

this is one of those things like having

play02:59

fun is actually a satisficing good as

play03:01

well like really you want a career where

play03:04

you're having enough fun you're having

play03:05

enough enjoyment and actually continuing

play03:07

to chase double or triple or quadruple

play03:09

amounts of fun and enjoyment is like

play03:11

the experience of fun and fun and

play03:13

enjoyment at work and and in life

play03:15

doesn't really work like that and if you

play03:17

find yourself continuing to try and seek

play03:18

those pleasure hits of dopamine you end

play03:20

up becoming a drug addict because it's

play03:22

like there's actually not sustainable

play03:23

ways to just keep on increasing the

play03:25

amount of fun you're having in your life

play03:26

and so similar to money it's like we

play03:27

want to recognize that as long as we're

play03:29

finding a career where we are enjoying

play03:31

it it's like it's very easy to think oh

play03:33

the grass is always greener on the other

play03:35

side I could find a different career

play03:36

where I'll enjoy it twice as much but

play03:38

realistically that's basically never

play03:39

gonna happen and there is like a limit

play03:41

to the amount of fun that you can have

play03:42

in a career and obviously we want that

play03:44

amount to be high but like you know

play03:45

let's keep in mind that it's also a

play03:47

satisficing good and so firstly the

play03:49

amount of fun we can have in our career

play03:50

the amount of enjoyment we can get from

play03:51

it is partly based on the

play03:52

characteristics of the career or the job

play03:54

in question now this is things like you

play03:56

know if we find that we have autonomy if

play03:58

we find that we like our work colleagues

play04:00

if we find that we are learning stuff

play04:01

and growing as people if we find that we

play04:03

are playing to our strengths and if we

play04:05

find that the job has no major negatives

play04:06

like commuting more than 20 minutes is

play04:08

apparently according to the research of

play04:09

major negative and so making decisions

play04:11

like that is important when it comes to

play04:13

individual jobs but it's kind of hard to

play04:14

predict what these things are going to

play04:15

be if you think about a career more

play04:17

broadly because most people's careers

play04:18

are quite long they're quite like you

play04:20

know circuitous they don't follow

play04:21

necessarily a completely straight path

play04:23

and so this idea of choosing a career

play04:25

that lets you have fun is more about

play04:26

like actually understanding what are the

play04:28

elements that make a job or a specific

play04:30

job more enjoyable and trying to

play04:32

incorporate those into your work

play04:33

whatever career you find yourself in

play04:35

like inherently there are some careers

play04:37

that are probably just inherently more

play04:38

enjoyable than others or that you feel

play04:40

are more of a personal fit for you more

play04:41

on that later but broadly the way I

play04:43

think of it is that in almost any career

play04:45

if you've chosen it for the right

play04:46

reasons you can find ways to have fun in

play04:48

the specific job that you're in at

play04:50

different times and even careers that

play04:52

seem really fun a lot of people like oh

play04:53

my God being a YouTuber seems really fun

play04:54

and it is but I know a bunch of

play04:56

YouTubers who actually are not enjoying

play04:58

their life particularly because there's

play04:59

all these other negative sides of for

play05:01

example a career that seems like the

play05:02

dream the second point to make here is

play05:04

something that Cal Newport talks about

play05:05

in his book is so good they can't ignore

play05:07

you where he basically argues that this

play05:08

whole Follow Your Passion or find a

play05:10

thing that's fine or find a thing you

play05:11

enjoy is a bit of a myth because to be

play05:13

honest for most of us the things that we

play05:14

enjoy like playing video games and

play05:15

watching Netflix and reading fantasy

play05:17

fiction books are very very very very

play05:19

difficult to make a career out of and so

play05:20

we shouldn't even try says Cal Newport

play05:22

and I broadly agree instead what we

play05:24

should do is we should find a career

play05:25

that takes other boxes and that helps us

play05:27

live the kind of lifestyle that we want

play05:28

and then within that career we just

play05:30

become really really good and the better

play05:32

you become at a thing the more you feel

play05:34

like you're playing to your strengths

play05:35

the more career Capital you develop

play05:37

which means you can cash in that career

play05:39

capital for autonomy autonomy is a good

play05:41

part of what makes a career or a job fun

play05:42

and also there's just this idea that

play05:43

like the better you are at a thing the

play05:45

more likely you are to be actually be

play05:46

enjoying doing the thing and the third

play05:47

point to mention here on the I want a

play05:49

career that helps me have fun angle is

play05:51

that experimentation is a really

play05:52

important part of this a mistake that a

play05:54

lot of people make and I've seen this a

play05:55

lot in medicine is people who are like

play05:56

hey I want I I reckon being a doctor

play05:58

would be quite fun I reckon I might

play06:00

enjoy a career as a doctor why don't I

play06:01

just apply to medical school

play06:03

um and this is a bit of a weird thing

play06:05

because medical school is really long

play06:06

and you're sort of signing yourself up

play06:08

to a very very very long process whereas

play06:11

there's a lot of experimentation you can

play06:13

do beforehand you could do work

play06:14

experience for example for a few days or

play06:16

a few weeks or a few days of probably

play06:17

isn't enough but a few weeks to see what

play06:19

is life as a doctor actually like and

play06:21

you could speak to other doctors and be

play06:22

like are they actually enjoying it when

play06:24

it comes to going out to dinner at a

play06:25

restaurant you know we spend maybe I

play06:28

don't know 10 15 minutes deciding what

play06:29

restaurant to go to and it might last

play06:31

like two hours so what is that 10 of the

play06:34

time that we spend at the restaurant we

play06:36

are spending deciding what restaurant to

play06:37

eat at And yet when it comes to making

play06:39

decisions about our careers we spend a

play06:41

lot less than 10 of our total work time

play06:43

to actually make that decision and if we

play06:46

calculate that total work time that's

play06:47

like a 40 hour week for 50 weeks of the

play06:50

year for about 40 Years of our life that

play06:51

adds up to 80 000 hours and we

play06:54

definitely don't spend 8 000 hours of

play06:55

Our Lives actually making decisions

play06:57

about what career to pursue even though

play06:58

we probably should so the moral of the

play07:00

story here is that if you want a career

play07:01

that helps you have fun a don't try and

play07:04

follow your passions but B try and do

play07:05

some like low risk experimentation where

play07:08

you're not signing yourself up to a

play07:09

super super long career path to just

play07:11

find out what it's like like and you're

play07:12

actually taking some time in advance to

play07:14

figure out does this seem like the sort

play07:15

of thing that I could actually enjoy

play07:17

part three I want a career that lets me

play07:18

help people all right now we come to the

play07:21

interesting stuff the helping of people

play07:22

now if you ask most people they'll say

play07:24

that yeah I wanna I wanna help people in

play07:25

my career I'm gonna feel like I'm making

play07:27

a difference I want to feel like I'm

play07:28

having some kind of meaningful impact in

play07:30

the job that I do and this makes perfect

play07:32

sense like all of the research shows

play07:33

that when we feel like we have purpose

play07:34

when we feel like we're working towards

play07:36

something that's bigger than us when we

play07:37

feel like we are helping other people

play07:38

that's just a good for the world

play07:40

obviously but it's also good for our own

play07:42

personal fulfillment and the

play07:43

meaningfulness that we associate with

play07:45

our work and with our life and there's

play07:46

broadly three ways that I like to think

play07:47

of this idea of helping people when it

play07:49

comes to making decisions about my

play07:50

career and that's firstly what is the

play07:52

problem that you are working on like

play07:54

what problem area is it secondly how

play07:56

effective are you at working on it and

play07:58

thirdly how much personal fit do you

play08:00

have for that particular thing so let's

play08:02

start with the problem area now the

play08:03

thing to consider here is that how big

play08:05

of a problem is it that you're solving

play08:06

and how neglected is the problem that

play08:09

you're solving things are a big problem

play08:10

so for example climate change is a

play08:11

really really big problem and it's great

play08:14

to have a career in climate change but

play08:15

it's not a particularly neglected

play08:17

problem like these days there are

play08:18

there's loads of funding and loads of

play08:20

people into climate change thanks in

play08:22

part to the work of a small number of

play08:24

activists about like 20 30 years ago but

play08:26

now the climate change movement actually

play08:28

has a large amount of funding in it but

play08:29

if we take a different example for

play08:31

example it might sound a bit science

play08:32

fictiony but most researchers say that

play08:34

the risk from artificial intelligence

play08:36

becoming kind of growing out of our

play08:37

control is actually pretty major and a

play08:40

bunch of experts who estimate this put

play08:42

it at like a sort of 30 to 50

play08:43

probability in the next 50 years or so

play08:46

that artificial general intelligence

play08:47

could become a serious threat to the

play08:49

world a serious threat to humanity

play08:50

whatever you want to call it so that's a

play08:52

pretty big problem if it ends up

play08:53

happening and even if there's only say a

play08:55

10 chance of it happening or a one

play08:56

percent chance of it happening if you

play08:58

for example went on an airplane and the

play09:00

pilot was like don't worry guys there's

play09:01

only a 10 chance that it's going to

play09:03

crash and kill everyone on board you

play09:04

wouldn't feel particularly reassured by

play09:05

that because I think 10 chance of dying

play09:07

or even a one percent chance of dying at

play09:09

plane crash is absolutely huge there's

play09:10

no way I'm getting on that so we can

play09:12

take this concept of expected value the

play09:13

probabilities and sort of multiply them

play09:15

out to basically see how big the problem

play09:17

is but also artificial intelligence and

play09:20

the risks associated with that is a very

play09:22

very neglected problem have a look at

play09:24

this graph for example it shows that as

play09:25

of 2020 there were 40 000 people working

play09:28

on making AI more powerful but like 300

play09:31

people working on making AI more safe

play09:33

this is a very neglected problem if you

play09:36

are the 301st person working on a

play09:38

problem you can probably have way more

play09:39

impact on the thing than if you are the

play09:41

40 000 and first person working on that

play09:44

problem another example is the issue of

play09:45

pandemic prevention uh people in the

play09:47

effect of altruism movement have been

play09:48

going on about pandemic prevention for

play09:50

like years

play09:51

um one of the chaps I interviewed on the

play09:53

podcast will mccaskill written a

play09:54

fantastic book called what we are the

play09:55

future you should check it out he warned

play09:57

like the Scottish government in like

play09:58

2015 he was like you know they asked him

play10:00

hey what's the biggest issue that the

play10:01

world faces and it was like oh probably

play10:03

pandemics and they were all just loved

play10:05

him off they were like oh don't try and

play10:06

scare us this is rabies pandemics is

play10:08

never going to happen but obviously a

play10:09

few years later we have seen that

play10:10

pandemics have killed around a 21

play10:12

million people and so clearly that's a

play10:14

pretty big scale problem like working in

play10:16

pandemic prevention could actually save

play10:17

a large amount of lives but it's also

play10:19

still a surprisingly neglected thing

play10:21

like have a look at these graphs this

play10:22

shows how much money is being spent on

play10:24

counterterrorism compared to pandemic

play10:26

prevention now obviously preventing

play10:28

terrorism is an important thing but if

play10:30

we compare it with the graph of how many

play10:32

people actually die through terrorism

play10:34

compared to through pandemics it's just

play10:36

it's just kind of interesting like it's

play10:37

somewhat counterintuitive the places

play10:39

that we put our time money and effort

play10:41

including what we do with our careers

play10:42

compared to what the big problems in

play10:45

life actually are and how neglected they

play10:46

are and so this idea of neglectedness

play10:48

comes into this idea around how do I

play10:50

help people in the most in the maximum

play10:52

possible way pick an area that's a bit

play10:54

more neglected the next thing we want to

play10:55

talk about is the idea of Effectiveness

play10:57

how much good can you actually do in a

play10:59

particular career now a problem might be

play11:01

absolutely huge but if it's impossible

play11:03

to solve the problem then you're trying

play11:05

to solve that problem if it's completely

play11:06

possible it's not actually going to be

play11:07

particularly effective but also there's

play11:09

this idea that when it comes to doing

play11:10

good in our careers there are some

play11:11

things that are just way better than

play11:13

other things that we could be doing for

play11:15

example again if you care about climate

play11:16

change which we all should because it's

play11:17

super important then you as an

play11:19

individual campaigning for people to

play11:20

stop stopping using plastic straws or

play11:22

campaigning for individuals to start

play11:24

recycling that's all well and good but

play11:26

you actually could be doing like 100 or

play11:27

a thousand times as much to reduce

play11:29

carbon emissions if you instead for

play11:32

example took fewer flights or if you

play11:34

instead did an Elon Musk and promoted

play11:36

the transition to renewable energy or if

play11:38

instead you happen to be a policy maker

play11:40

at a big company in like India or China

play11:42

or the US that guzzles out large amounts

play11:44

of CO2 and you happen to be that one

play11:46

person that made them change their

play11:47

policy to become more like climate

play11:49

change friendly finally let's talk about

play11:50

the idea of personal fit so it's all

play11:52

well and good like be like yeah I want

play11:54

to do this thing and I want to be

play11:55

effective in this but really personal

play11:56

fit is really important because if you

play11:58

don't fundamentally enjoy working in the

play12:00

area or if you personally are not very

play12:01

good at working in the area then you're

play12:04

not actually going to be that effective

play12:05

like for example if I'm thinking what to

play12:06

do with my career the fact that I have a

play12:08

medical background means that I could

play12:10

probably have a decent personal the

play12:12

field of pandemic prevention or public

play12:13

health stuff the fact that I do this

play12:15

YouTube stuff means I could spread the

play12:16

message about like effective altruism

play12:18

and other stuff that we're talking about

play12:19

in this video but it probably wouldn't

play12:21

be a good personal fit for me to become

play12:23

a researcher in artificial general

play12:24

intelligence because that would just not

play12:26

be very good at it and it's like like

play12:28

even though that's an important thing or

play12:29

climate change for example even though

play12:31

those are important me trying to become

play12:33

a researcher and like working on those

play12:34

things is very unlikely to be personal

play12:36

fit within me and so that's also an

play12:38

important part of choosing your career

play12:40

yes it's important to pick an area

play12:41

that's important and pressing and

play12:43

neglected and it's important to figure

play12:44

out how you can be effective in it but

play12:46

if you don't have that personal fit or

play12:47

if you're just really bad at the thing

play12:48

it's not actually going to be

play12:49

particularly useful how do you know what

play12:50

your personal fit is going to be well

play12:51

partly comes down to the idea of

play12:53

experimentation that we talked about

play12:54

earlier in the having fun component but

play12:56

also you can be generally way more

play12:57

effective as an individual in any career

play12:59

if you develop useful skills within that

play13:01

career and if you develop compounding

play13:03

skills that are useful regardless of

play13:05

what kind of career you're in for

play13:07

example knowing how to communicate

play13:08

knowing how to public speak knowing how

play13:09

to convince people of stuff is generally

play13:11

a useful thing that will help you in

play13:12

almost any career and you can become

play13:13

more effective at those things to then

play13:15

become more effective in your career

play13:16

which will then a help you have more fun

play13:18

but also help you help more people now

play13:20

if any of the ideas in this video vibe

play13:21

with you and you're looking for

play13:22

actionable next steps you should

play13:24

definitely check out the completely free

play13:25

careers guide over at 80 000 hours who

play13:28

are very kindly sponsoring this video 80

play13:30

000 hours is genuinely an incredible

play13:31

organization their offices are actually

play13:32

just down the road from where I'm

play13:34

filming this they're a non-profit and

play13:35

their whole aim is to help people

play13:36

recognize that you know 80 000 hours is

play13:38

the length of the average career and

play13:40

your decision about what you're going to

play13:41

do with your career is one of the most

play13:43

impactful decisions that you can

play13:44

possibly make and so the entire job of

play13:46

80 000 hours again it's a non-profit

play13:47

they're not trying to make money all

play13:49

they're trying to do is help people

play13:50

figure out where is a career that they

play13:52

can have personal impact in that they

play13:54

can have personal fit and that they can

play13:55

be effective at yeah everything on the

play13:57

website is completely free they do not

play13:58

charge a penny for anything they are

play13:59

funded by open philanthropy and other

play14:01

effective altruism funds so everything

play14:02

is free you can stick your email address

play14:04

in the link down below and they'll send

play14:05

you their step-by-step careers guide

play14:07

they also have a completely free

play14:08

newsletter that you can join you just

play14:10

enter your email address and then

play14:11

they'll send you up to dates about what

play14:12

are some potentially high impact jobs

play14:14

that are around and other research

play14:16

around what makes for a higher impact

play14:17

and fulfilling and enjoyable career and

play14:19

if you like this video you might like to

play14:20

check out this video over here which is

play14:22

my book summary of what we owe the

play14:24

future by Will mccaskill who is a

play14:26

philosopher a moral philosopher and

play14:27

actually one of the co-founders of 80

play14:29

000 hours and the effective altruism

play14:30

movement and this is a video all about

play14:32

the idea of long-termism and how

play14:34

actually one of the ways we can have the

play14:35

most ridiculously large impact with our

play14:37

careers is focusing more on long-term

play14:39

problems so check out that video over

play14:40

there thank you so much for watching and

play14:41

I'll see you hopefully in the next video

play14:42

bye

Rate This

5.0 / 5 (0 votes)

الوسوم ذات الصلة
Career AdviceFulfillmentEarning PotentialJob SatisfactionImpact CareersWork-Life BalanceMaximizing HappinessSocial StatusCareer CapitalEffective AltruismLong-Termism
هل تحتاج إلى تلخيص باللغة الإنجليزية؟