Slow Boring

What’s neglected? Where can you make a difference?

From the Effective Altruism world, I learned about the Important, Tractable, Neglected (ITN) framework for evaluating potential charitable causes.

The idea is that you want to focus on things that are a big deal. But you also want to focus on causes where your efforts are likely to make a difference. And you want to focus on problems that aren’t getting the attention they deserve, which often means things that lots of people are not already focused on. The important aspect is obvious, but tractable and neglected I think cut against a lot of people’s basic instincts — it’s generally more fun to participate in an ongoing conversation than to try to change the subject.

If you are represented by GOP members of Congress, it would be constructive and useful to show up at town hall meetings and give them a piece of your mind. It is always constructive to write or call your member of Congress, regardless of party.