Found in the Struce

David Reinstein
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  • SOCIAL SCIENCES
Found in the Struce

Ideas shouldn't get "lost in the struce": they should be put on a podcast! Explaining challenging concepts from economics, statistics, social science, data science/tech, philosophy and EA... without watering it down. You'll come away with real knowledge and insight that you didn't have before. - Reading and discussing articles and posts; mine & others - Short takes/short ideas, & some gripes and musings on language, society, & culture. - Findings & themes from behavioral science, carefully considering the *evidence* (not just sensational headlines).

  1. 05/24/2023

    "Turismo Eficaz" (EA Mexico Fellowship 1/n episodes). Discussions with Agustin Covarrubias, a taxi driver, and a bit more. [Fixed ordering]

    First of maybe 3 episodes with some audio giving you a flavor of (my experience of) the EA Mexico Fellowship. Most of this episode surrounds my conversations with Agustin Covarrubias. Some people might find the "Branches of AI Safety" (jump to that section) the most interesting part. 27 May 2023 -- Sorry, I see the audio ordering was wrong — my 30 second comment on Columbus should not have been at the beginning. I moved it.

    50 min
  2. Seeing the effects of your donation and making incremental choices (EA Forum)

    12/26/2021

    Seeing the effects of your donation and making incremental choices (EA Forum)

    Practicing what I preach = reading what I wrote... Seeing the effects of your donation and making incremental choices in EA Forum Part of the 'giving and gifts podcast trilogy' along with Profusion: The Big, Christmassy Data Special and FITS "The Economics of the Gift" reading

    19 min

  3. 12/24/2021

    The Economics of the Gift

    I read and blather about "The Economics of the Gift", an essay I wrote for an interdisciplinary conference and book on "Gift Giving and the 'Embedded Economy' in the ancient world".  Part of a planned multi-part series on "reading old stuff I wrote and seeing how much I cringe".  Full essay is HERE Ties in with  - Profusion data podcast Christmassy special - EA forum post: seeing the effects of your donation From the essay abstract: This essay broadly considers gifts, giving, and gift economies, modern and pre-modern, from a mainstream (and behavioural) economics perspective. I present a selective survey of the literature focusing on six key points: 1. Commercial transactions sustained by reputation are not easily distinguishable from gift exchange economies; 2. Gift-giving allows the giver to accumulate goods that cannot be purchased commercially; 3. When the giver retains some use, experience, or control over the gift, she shares in the consumption of it; 4. Considering behavioural issues such as regret aversion, gift-giving may offer overlooked efficiencies that may balance out the deadweight losses from ‘inadequate gifts’; 5. Aggregate (anonymous) giving can be an important signal of overall group identity and character; 6. Historical modes of ‘giving under pressure’ offer insights for modern public policy and philanthropy

    1h 41m

  4. 12/08/2021

    But what *is* "The Struce"? And why do we think we can find things in it?

    Finally answering the burning question!

    2 min

  5. 12/07/2021

    Part II: Reading EA Forum post, "Differences in the Intensity of Valenced Experience across Species" by Jason Schukraft

    ... with only a few comments and explainers. I finished the post, but I hope to make a part III with the footnotes and EA Forum comments on the Post

    1h 16m

  6. 11/21/2021

    "Differences in the Intensity of Valenced Experience across Species" by Jason Schukraft -- part 1

    Reading EA Forum post, "Differences in the Intensity of Valenced Experience across Species" by Jason Schukraft ... with only a few comments and explainers "Why it would matter if different sorts of animals possessed characteristically different intensity ranges of valenced experience" -- Jason Oversimply perhaps, do some animals 'feel more pain' (and more pleasure) than others ... so which ones do we need to worry about (the most)? This is a nice long post -- so I'll split these between 2 episodes. Here, I read through "Cognitive Sophistication and Intensity of Valenced Experience"

    1h 24m

  7. 11/05/2021

    Not an official FITS episode! Audio/organization is below standard. Discussion of Michael Plant's appearance on Clearer Thinking, and his work in general

    I mainly made this for myself and people I'm discussing these issues with. Audio is so/so, and I repeat myself a bit, I suspect. But if you want to hear me ramble about measuring the relative effects of counseling and income interventions, how to measure this, and how to consider the relative value of transfers to poor vs poorer people, have a listen. See Clearer Thinking episode HERE, and Michael Plant's site HERE

    1h 12m

  8. 10/27/2021

    "The value of money going to different groups" (...the very very poor vs the very very very poor) by Toby Ord -- reading & discussion

    Would it be better for $100 to go to someone living on $300 a year or $200 to go to someone earning $500 per year? This is a really tough choice, but one organizations like GiveDirectly need to think about.   How can we consider it?  I read and discuss Toby Ord's EA Forum post and linked CEA article. And I interject, explain, and comment. A lot. (By the way, I leave some hypothes.is comments on the latter page, if you want to engage.) This ties into longstanding a major theoretical and empirical questions in Economics (Welfare economics, Public Choice, Development, Risk preference elicitation, Happiness). But I think it's thorny unresolved.  But practical choices must be made that rely crucially on how we value (e.g.) the above A versus B. And I really don't know how major orgs (like the World Bank, the UN, USAID, DFiD, WHO, Gates Foundation) and think tanks/research groups (like JPAL, IPA, CGDEV) consider these tradeoffs. Get in touch (or leave a message on Anchor) if you want to add to this conversation, or have some suggested references and redings.

    1h 1m
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About

Ideas shouldn't get "lost in the struce": they should be put on a podcast! Explaining challenging concepts from economics, statistics, social science, data science/tech, philosophy and EA... without watering it down. You'll come away with real knowledge and insight that you didn't have before. - Reading and discussing articles and posts; mine & others - Short takes/short ideas, & some gripes and musings on language, society, & culture. - Findings & themes from behavioral science, carefully considering the *evidence* (not just sensational headlines).

Information

  • Creator
    David Reinstein
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2023
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © David Reinstein
  • Show Website
    Found in the Struce

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