{"id":77553,"date":"2022-05-18T16:20:53","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T16:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/?post_type=problem_profile&#038;p=77553"},"modified":"2024-03-14T17:54:08","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T17:54:08","slug":"improving-individual-reasoning-or-cognition","status":"publish","type":"problem_profile","link":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/improving-individual-reasoning-or-cognition\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving individual reasoning or&nbsp;cognition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_white no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Table of Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#why-might-it-be-particularly-high-impact-to-improve-individual-reasoning-and-cognition\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> Why might it be particularly high impact to improve individual reasoning and cognition?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#learn-more-about-improving-individual-reasoning-and-cognition\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> Learn more about improving individual reasoning and cognition<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"why-might-it-be-particularly-high-impact-to-improve-individual-reasoning-and-cognition\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Why might it be particularly high impact to improve individual reasoning and cognition?<\/h2>\n<p>The case for improving individual reasoning and cognition is similar to <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/improving-institutional-decision-making\/\">the case for improving institutional decision-making<\/a>: better reasoning and cognitive capacities usually make for better outcomes, especially when problems are subtle or complex. And as with institutions, work on improving individual decision-making is likely to be helpful no matter what challenges come up in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Strategies for improving reasoning might include producing <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-decision\/\">tools<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rationality.org\/\">trainings<\/a>, or research into how to best make better <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/philip-tetlock-forecasting-research\/\">forecasts<\/a> or decisions, or come to sensible views on complex topics.<\/p>\n<p>Strategies for improving cognition might take a variety of forms &#8212; for example, researching safe and potentially beneficial <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221022223722\/https:\/\/www.gwern.net\/Nootropics\">nootropics<\/a> like creatine. <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/posts\/MojiqNw5MN6WMXETc\/cause-profile-cognitive-enhancement-research-1\">This cause profile on research into pharmacological cognitive enhancement<\/a> (including but not limited to nootropics) argues this research could rival some of the most cost-effective global health work in its potential for helping people today, and perhaps have longer-run benefits too.<\/p>\n<p>Focusing on individuals seems to us like it will usually be less effective for tackling global problems than taking a more institutional approach, because the decisions you are able to affect aren&#8217;t as large. Also, we should expect it to be less neglected than many issues because there are pretty clean incentives for individuals to increase their cognition and decision-making ability: they can use it to improve many aspects of their lives, and there are no coordination or <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Principal%E2%80%93agent_problem\">principal\u2013agent problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>All that said, it may be more promising if you discover a novel technique, or if you are able to improve the reasoning of large segments of the population or target your efforts at the most influential decision-makers, such as leaders of important institutions. (See the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221022223816\/https:\/\/juliagalef.com\/update-project\/\">Update Project<\/a> for an example of the latter kind of strategy.) This might also start to blur the boundary between improving institutional decision-making and improving individual reasoning &#8212; for example, if you were able to help institutional leaders with their reasoning and decision-making.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"learn-more-about-improving-individual-reasoning-and-cognition\" class=\"toc-anchor\"><\/span>Learn more about improving individual reasoning and cognition<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/rationality.org\/about\/mission\">The Center for Applied Rationality&#8217;s mission page<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/forum.effectivealtruism.org\/posts\/MojiqNw5MN6WMXETc\/cause-profile-cognitive-enhancement-research-1\">Cause profile: Cognitive enhancement research<\/a> by George Altman<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20221022224230\/https:\/\/www.cold-takes.com\/the-bayesian-mindset\/\">Bayesian Mindset<\/a> by Holden Karnofsky<\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/is-it-time-for-a-new-scientific-revolution-julia-galef-on-how-to-make-humans-smarter\/\">Julia Galef on making humanity more rational, what EA does wrong, and why Twitter isn&#8217;t all bad<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/spencer-greenberg-money-happiness-hype-value\/\">Spencer Greenberg on causation without correlation, money and happiness, lightgassing, hype vs value, and more<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/spencer-greenberg-stopping-valueless-papers\/\">Spencer Greenberg on stopping valueless papers from getting into top journals<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/bryan-caplan-stop-reading-the-news\/\">Bryan Caplan on why you should stop reading the news<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/hugo-mercier-misinformation-mass-persuasion\/\">Hugo Mercier on why gullibility and misinformation are overrated<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/podcast\/episodes\/nita-farahany-neurotechnology\/\">Nita Farahany on the neurotechnology already being used to convict criminals and manipulate workers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"tw--mt-6 tw--p-3 tw--pt-2 tw--bg-gray-lighter tw--rounded-md \">\n<h3 class=\"no-toc\">\t\t<a class=\"no-visited-styling tw--text-off-black hover:tw--text-off-black hover:tw--no-underline focus:tw--text-off-black\" href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/\">\t\t\t<small>Read next:&nbsp;<\/small>\t\t\tExplore other pressing world problems\t\t<\/a>\t<\/h3>\n<div class=\"tw--grid xs:tw--grid-flow-col tw--gap-3\">\n<div class=\"xs:tw--order-last tw--pt-1\">\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/\">\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/sea-ocean-sky-night-cosmos-view-826635-pxhere.com_-720x448.jpg\" alt=\"Decorative post preview\" width=\"720\" height=\"448\">\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"\">\n<div class=\"tw--pb-3\">\n<p>Want to learn more about global issues we think are especially pressing? See our list of issues that are large in scale, solvable, and neglected, according to our research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\">\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/problem-profiles\/\" class=\"btn btn-primary\">Continue &rarr;<\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"well visible-if-not-newsletter-subscriber margin-bottom margin-top padding-top-small padding-bottom-small\">\n<h3 class=\"no-toc\">Plus, join our newsletter and we&#8217;ll mail you a free book<\/h3>\n<p>Join our newsletter and we&#8217;ll send you a free copy of <em>The Precipice<\/em> \u2014 a book by philosopher Toby Ord about how to tackle the greatest threats facing humanity. <a href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/free-book\/#giveaway-terms\">T&#038;Cs here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<form data-80k-object-id=\"\" data-80k-form-action=\"newsletter__subscribe\" action=\"\/\" method=\"post\" class=\"form-newsletter-signup form-newsletter-signup-step-1 margin-bottom-smaller\">\n<div class=\"mc-field-group input-group compact-input-group \"> <input type=\"email\" value=\"\" name=\"email\" required class=\"form-control email\" placeholder=\"Email address\" id=\"input_email\"> <span class=\"submit input-group-btn input-group-btn-right\"> <input type=\"submit\" id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe\" value=\"GET THE BOOK\" class=\"btn btn-primary \" \/> <\/span> <\/div>\n<div> <input name=\"_eightyk_action\" value=\"mailchimp_add_subscriber\" type=\"hidden\"> <input name=\"redirect_path_after_step_2\" value=\"\/newsletter\/welcome\/\" type=\"hidden\"> <\/div>\n<div style=\"position: absolute; left: -5000px;\"> <input type=\"text\" name=\"b_abc12f58bbe8075560abdc5b7_43bc1ae55c\" tabindex=\"-1\" value=\"\"> <\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":422,"featured_media":78281,"parent":0,"menu_order":20,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[291],"class_list":["post-77553","problem_profile","type-problem_profile","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-problems"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - 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