Human bias in the definition of intelligence (with Alene Anello)
1. Leverage Skills for Impact
Identify your strongest skills and passions, then seek roles that allow you to leverage these to make a high impact on the world. This strategy helps align personal strengths with opportunities for significant contribution.
2. Iterate for World Impact
When striving for positive impact, embrace an iterative approach, understanding that significant change rarely happens immediately. Continuously learn, seek feedback on your efforts, and adjust your strategies to maximize long-term effectiveness.
3. Prioritize Neglected Animal Issues
Direct efforts towards neglected animal welfare issues, such as the immense suffering of chickens in factory farms, which constitute the majority of farmed animals. This focus can maximize impact due to the scale of the problem and lack of attention.
4. Calculate Litigation Expected Value
Apply an effective altruist approach to animal protection litigation by estimating the likelihood of winning a case and multiplying it by the number of animals whose lives could be improved. This method helps prioritize lawsuits for maximum impact.
5. Support Animal Litigation
Engage in or support civil litigation efforts to hold corporations accountable for animal cruelty on factory farms. This approach aims to impact millions of animals by targeting systemic issues rather than individual workers.
6. Oppose Government Animal Cruelty
Investigate and voice concerns about government-commissioned cruel tests on animals, advocating for change irrespective of political views. This encourages bipartisan action against animal abuse that might otherwise be overlooked.
7. Embrace Diverse Intelligence
Adopt the mindset that all animals with brains are equally intelligent, just in different ways, rather than ranking them. This perspective encourages deeper understanding and respect for diverse forms of intelligence, preventing oversimplification and dismissal.
8. Avoid Intelligence Ranking (Policy)
Adopt a “policy argument” against ranking intelligence, focusing on the beneficial outcomes of such a mindset. This approach promotes listening to diverse voices and avoids harmful dismissals based on perceived intelligence levels.
9. Embrace Intelligence Complexity
When considering intelligence, make a consequences-based argument to avoid oversimplification and embrace the complexity of individual differences. This approach fosters a more comprehensive and respectful understanding of diverse minds.
10. Reject Single-Axis Evaluation
When interacting with individuals, resist the urge to evaluate them on a single intelligence axis, as it can be reductive and lead to writing people off. Instead, strive to understand their unique skills and strengths.
11. Assess Micro-Skills
When assessing capabilities, focus on specific “micro-skills” or sub-aspects relevant to the task or context at hand. This provides a more accurate and comprehensive picture than a single, overarching intelligence score.
12. Separate Truth from Helpfulness
Clearly distinguish between factual truths about intelligence and the helpfulness or harm of certain statements or frameworks regarding intelligence. This separation allows for clearer thinking and more productive discussions.
13. Observe Animals in Habitat
To fully appreciate an animal’s intelligence, observe it within its natural habitat performing tasks it evolved to accomplish. This approach reveals unique adaptations and skills that might not be apparent in artificial settings.
14. Question Human-Centric Intelligence Tests
Be skeptical of human-designed intelligence tests when evaluating non-human intelligence, as they often overlook skills and cognitive processes outside human conception. This prevents hubris and encourages a broader understanding of intelligence.
15. Define Intelligence Environmentally
Consider intelligence as “the ability to effectively achieve goals in novel environments of a particular type by using the mind or using information processing.” This definition emphasizes environment-specific performance and information processing, allowing for diverse forms of intelligence.
16. Caregiving Strengthens Bonds
Recognize that providing care for another being, such as an animal or a child, can forge a profound and lasting emotional bond. This caregiving role can lead to deep attachment and significant grief if the bond is broken.
17. Acknowledge Personal Neuroatypicality
Reflect on your own strengths and weaknesses, especially if they are “shockingly extreme” in different domains. This self-awareness can challenge the notion of objective intelligence ranking and foster a more nuanced view of individual capabilities.