{"id":10130,"date":"2024-09-20T07:44:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T07:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.effektivaltruism.org\/course\/how-solvable-is-the-problem\/"},"modified":"2024-09-20T07:44:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T07:44:29","slug":"how-solvable-is-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"tva_lesson","link":"https:\/\/www.effektivaltruism.org\/en\/course\/how-solvable-is-the-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"How solvable is the problem?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just because a problem is both large in scale and overlooked doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you should work on it. You also need to think about whether there are promising solutions you can direct your efforts towards. There is no point in spending resources on initiatives that do not work. We assess solvability through the question \u201cWhat percentage of the problem do we expect to solve if we double our efforts?\u201d. The larger part we can fix with additional resources, the more solvable. This does not mean that you should only choose \u201ceasy\u201d problems where there are already proven efforts. Difficult challenges may be worth tackling if they are overlooked and very large in scale. But if you\u2019re choosing between two problems that are roughly equally large and overlooked, you\u2019re expected to make the biggest difference at the margin by choosing the one that offers the best opportunity to make progress.<\/p>\n

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Different problems require different solutions, the effect of which is difficult to evaluate. Ideally, we can use the most scientifically reliable method \u2013 randomized control trials<\/a>. In other cases, we have to rely on theoretical reasoning. The following questions can help you reflect on how solvable a problem is:<\/p>\n