EA Cause Areas Seriousness Analysis
Thermodynamic evaluation of Effective Altruism cause subareas
Dataset Statistics
27
Total Cause Areas
13
Serious
2
Anti-serious
12
Unserious
0.302
Avg Magnitude
Cause Area Data Table
27 cause areas
| Cause | Domain | E | v | α | Magnitude | Designation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) for children | Global Health & Development | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 | Unserious |
| Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) for malaria | Global Health & Development | 0.08 | 0.00 | 0.03 | 0.085 | Unserious |
| Vitamin A supplementation for children <5 | Global Health & Development | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 | Unserious |
| Cash incentives to increase routine childhood vaccination | Global Health & Development | 0.03 | 0.24 | 0.12 | 0.270 | Serious |
| Insecticide-treated net campaigns (country-specific grants) | Global Health & Development | 0.00 | -0.01 | 0.00 | 0.010 | Unserious |
| Tuberculosis case finding & treatment support | Global Health & Development | 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.068 | Unserious |
| Vaccine promotion / uptake | Global Health & Development | 0.42 | 0.56 | 0.25 | 0.743 | Serious |
| Water chlorination / safe water at scale | Global Health & Development | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 | Unserious |
| Micronutrient fortification (iron/folate, salt iodization) | Global Health & Development | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.037 | Unserious |
| Cash transfers (baseline comparator) | Global Health & Development | 0.03 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.070 | Unserious |
| Corporate cage-free and broiler welfare campaigns | Animal Welfare | -0.16 | 0.32 | 0.48 | 0.599 | Anti-serious |
| Fish welfare improvements (slaughter, water quality, density) | Animal Welfare | -0.01 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.055 | Unserious |
| Shrimp welfare standards and practices | Animal Welfare | 0.01 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.055 | Unserious |
| Legal advocacy for farmed animals | Animal Welfare | 0.12 | 0.30 | -0.10 | 0.338 | Anti-serious |
| Wild animal welfare research & pilot interventions | Animal Welfare | 0.01 | 0.05 | -0.01 | 0.052 | Unserious |
| Movement research, data, and strategy | Animal Welfare | 0.28 | 0.55 | 0.18 | 0.643 | Serious |
| Technical AI safety research (alignment, evals, interpretability) | Longtermism / Catastrophic Risk | 0.18 | 0.28 | 0.15 | 0.365 | Serious |
| AI governance & standards (evaluations, policy, monitoring) | Longtermism / Catastrophic Risk | 0.12 | 0.24 | 0.11 | 0.290 | Serious |
| Pandemic preparedness: pathogen surveillance & rapid response | Longtermism / Catastrophic Risk | 0.35 | 0.39 | 0.25 | 0.581 | Serious |
| Ventilation/filtration & far‑UVC deployment | Longtermism / Catastrophic Risk | 0.03 | 0.10 | 0.02 | 0.106 | Unserious |
| Vaccine platform R&D & manufacturing readiness | Longtermism / Catastrophic Risk | 0.42 | 0.56 | 0.25 | 0.743 | Serious |
| Nuclear risk reduction (arms control, NC3 safety, de‑escalation) | Longtermism / Catastrophic Risk | 0.12 | 0.30 | 0.20 | 0.380 | Serious |
| Methane abatement in energy, waste, and agriculture | Climate | 0.24 | 0.42 | 0.20 | 0.523 | Serious |
| Clean energy R&D and deployment policy | Climate | 0.64 | 0.52 | 0.24 | 0.859 | Serious |
| High-leverage climate philanthropy (policy & innovation focus) | Climate | 0.03 | 0.28 | 0.06 | 0.288 | Serious |
| Improving cause prioritization research & decision tools | Meta / Movement Building | 0.12 | 0.42 | 0.20 | 0.480 | Serious |
| Talent pipelines and career advising for priority areas | Meta / Movement Building | 0.24 | 0.42 | 0.15 | 0.506 | Serious |
About This Analysis
This visualization shows the thermodynamic seriousness of Effective Altruism cause subareas evaluated in the US context. Each point is one subarea; color reflects its top-level domain.
E (Energy & Resources)
Does the cause add net new resources to the system?
v (Infrastructure & Efficiency)
Does it build durable capacity?
α (Order & Coordination)
Does it reduce disorder or increase division?