In several countries, lockdowns have reduced the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and thereby of deaths from COVID-19. Despite this, they have been controversial.  Some claim that they violate basic rights or freedoms.  This seminar will focus on a different objection: do the benefits of lockdowns outweigh the costs?  Asking that question leads to others: […]

Even though mental disorders account for a considerable burden of disease globally and appear to strongly impact individuals’ subjective well-being, the EA community has spent relatively little effort on identifying the best giving opportunities within the area of mental health. This talk provides an introduction to the Happier Lives Institute’s Mental Health Programme Evaluation Project […]

Michael Plant presented his working paper on life satisfaction theories.

Michael Plant presented his working paper on the comparability of subjective scales.

Effective altruists want to do as much good as possible. But how should we measure how much good different outcomes do? So far, effective altruists have tended to use income and standardised health metrics (QALYs and DALYs) as the measures of what matters. This talk is primarily a plea for subjective well-being (SWB) - individuals’ […]

Michael Plant delivered a ‘prequel’ to his talk at EA Global: London 2017 to address theoretical concerns about the nature and measurement of wellbeing.

All plausible moral theories agree increasing the happiness of currently existing people during their lifetimes is intrinsically good. Despite, or perhaps because of, this agreement, surprisingly little work has been done to find out what the most effective ways to improve world happiness are. In this short talk, Michael Plant shares his current conclusions and […]