“Measurability is Doubly Important in Animal Advocacy” by emre kaplan🔸

EA-aligned animal advocacy is often criticized for measurability bias. In this post, I argue that the usual epistemic safeguards of leftist advocacy are unavailable in animal advocacy, and as a result, measurability is doubly important in our domain.

What do pro-measurement people say?

Intuition and abstract reasoning are very poor predictors of charity performance. Furthermore, charities differ 100x in effectiveness, therefore measuring the cost-effectiveness of charities enables us to do much more good.

We need careful scientific studies and preferably RCTs to figure out which interventions work. Through measurement, we will have a transparent accountability mechanism which will help us identify cases of failure and stop funding things that don't work.

What are the usual criticisms of measurability bias?

• Not all important outcomes are measurable. How do you quantify the value of a social movement, a shift in public discourse, or groundbreaking legal precedent?
• External measurement misses [...]

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Outline:

(00:27) What do pro-measurement people say?

(01:00) What are the usual criticisms of measurability bias?

(01:52) What is the main leftist alternative to measurable outcomes?

(02:35) You cant do standpoint epistemology with non-human animals

(03:27) Balancing measurement with movement building

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First published: April 17th, 2025

Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/rwXiBwzczXLzr4zRb/measurability-is-doubly-important-in-animal-advocacy

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.