Rob Wiblin
Director of Research at 80,000 Hours
I do research into the best ways to do good in your career for 80,000 Hours.
I also host the 80,000 Hours Podcast, where we have 'unusually in-depth conversations about the world's most pressing problems and how you can use your career to solve them.'
Here are some articles and interviews I've done for 80,000 Hours.
These days my personal blog is over at Medium and I regularly offer unsolicited opinions on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I also post articles I think are particularly good on Pocket.
Below you can find some highlights from my work and other interesting things I've made over the years.
If you like I can send you occasional updates on my research:
My background
I studied both genetics and economics at the Australian National University (ANU), graduated top of my class, and was named Young Alumnus of the Year in 2015.
I worked as a research economist in various Australian Government agencies including the Treasury and Productivity Commission.
I then moved to Oxford in the UK to work at the Centre for Effective Altruism, first as Research Director and then Executive Director.
I then became Research Director for 80,000 Hours as it was going through Y Combinator in 2015. We then moved to the California Bay Area, but in 2019 came back to settle in London.
I was the founding board Secretary for Animal Charity Evaluators and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers community.
If you'd like to learn more, here are a few interviews I've done about me and my work at 80,000 Hours:
A few top intellectual influences
Over the years I have been very influenced by the work of Oxford academics like Prof Nick Bostrom, Prof Hilary Greaves, Dr Toby Ord, Dr Will MacAskill, Amanda Askell and Nick Beckstead.
A good way to get to understand that worldview is to listen to 'Effective Altruism: An Introduction', which I helped create.
Here's a list of audiobooks I recommend and think influenced, and hopefully improved, my understanding of the world.
I listen to a lot of podcasts. Of course there's my own show. But when I'm not listening to the wonderful sound of my own voice, some of my favourites are EconTalk, Conversations with Tyler, Planet Money, BBC More or Less, StartUp and Serial.
Because there are so many, I made a podcast feed of my favourite old EconTalk episodes which you can subscribe to.
I've written up why I think more people should start long-form interview podcasts and explained why folks should make each interview two hours or longer.
The blog I've read most consistently over the years is Marginal Revolution.
How I hope to improve the world
I am sympathetic to:
Some top research interest are:
Here are a few talks on those topics that I've given over the years:
Some of my favourite 80,000 Hours Podcast episodes
Some blog posts I wrote that I still like
Other neat things I've made
Here's a checklist of questions I often work through when something unpleasant happens, in order to reframe the situation and get over it as quickly as possible.
I've written about 'Ugh tasks' — tasks that you gradually come to feel terrible about not having done but can't bring yourself to do — which I think are a very underrated mental health issue.
Here are some of my thoughts on exercise, why it's so important, and how to get into it.
Here are some suggestions for how Australian policy could be modified to benefit the rest of the world, some old brainstorming on the overlap between classical liberalism and effective altruism, and some thoughts on political correctness.
Here's a bit of advice on how to effectively promote ideas on social media. And my views on how people involved in effective altruism should and shouldn't use jargon.
Here's a quiz where you can test your ability to predict which psychology studies can be replicated, and which can't, based on a brief description.
I made a 60 second guide to increasing your chance of surviving an imminent nuclear attack.
I love house music and dancing until I'm so tired I can't dance any longer — here's a Spotify playlist of 700 tracks I like and a bunch of mixes I love on SoundCloud.
Some personal information
Actually the details of my life are quite inconsequential.
Get in touch
You can contact me at rob at 80000hours dot org.
Unfortunately I can no longer reply to every email requesting personalised career advice.
I suggest checking out our career guide and then applying for one-on-one advising.
© Robert Wiblin All Right Reserved