Which world problems are the most important to solve? – 80,000 Hours

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Top areas to work on

Preventing an AI-related catastrophe

Catastrophic pandemics

Nuclear war

Great power conflict

Climate change

See more →

Capacity building

Building effective altruism

Global priorities research

Improving decision making

Go to problems hub →
See all our career reviews →
Key categories of impactful careers

Government and policy

Organisation-building

Research

Applying an unusual strength to a needed niche

Communication

Earning to give

List of top-recommended career paths

AI safety technical research and engineering

Shaping future governance of AI

Biorisk research, strategy, and policy

Information security in high-impact areas

Helping build the effective altruism community

China-related AI safety and governance

Grantmaker

Operations in high-impact organisations

Research into global priorities

Forecasting research and implementation

More promising paths

Be a founder

Software engineering

Journalism

See more →

How to build great career capital

See our top recommendations →

See all career reviews →
Introduction

Your most important decision

Foundations

A definition of impact

Longtermism

Harmful jobs

Global priorities

Problem selection

Existential risks

Top problems list

Contribution

How to think about your contribution

Effective solutions

List of high-impact careers

Personal fit

Gut instinct

Differences in productivity

Comparative advantage

Strategy

Ambition

Coordination

Exploration

Impact and satisfaction

Accidental harm

Read the full series →
See all planning resources →
Create a high-impact career plan

Career plan template

8-week career planning course

Summary

Annual career check-up

Make good career decisions

Make an immediate decision

Improve your decision-making skills

See all planning resources →
Selected topics

Moral philosophy

Career capital

Job satisfaction

Anonymous advice

Unconventional advice

Advocacy

Existential risk

Top-recommended careers

See all topics →

Top articles from outside our guides

Best charities to donate to

Misconceptions about effective altruism

High-impact research questions

What are your chances of getting elected to Congress, if you try?

How many lives does a doctor save?

What's the impact of voting?

Advice for undergraduates

All articles →
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Part 5: The world’s biggest problems and why they’re not what first comes to mind

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