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MarsColony_in10years comments on Roadmap: Plan of Action to Prevent Human Extinction Risks - Less Wrong Discussion
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Is A3 meant to have connecting links horizontal through it's path?
Another bad idea: build a simulation-world to live in so that we don't actually have to worry about real-world risks. (disadvantage - is possibly an X-risk itself)
It kinda depends on which x-risk you are trying to cover...
For example - funding technologies that improve the safety or efficiency of nuclear use might mean that any use is a lot more harmless. Or develop ways to clean up nuclear mess; or mitigate the decay of nuclear radiation (i.e. a way to gather nuclear radioactive dust)
Encouraging people to start small bio-hack groups around the world could improve the biotechnology understanding of the public to the point where no one accidentally creates a bio-technology hazard. Developing better guidance on safe biotechnology processes and exactly why its safe this way and not otherwise... effectively "raising the sanity waterline" but specific to the area of biotechnology risks.
(I suggest that maybe you want to offer to take free suggestions before you pay people - at least that might save you some dollars)
I'm all for biohazard awareness groups, and even most forms of BioHacking at local HackerSpaces or wherever else. However, I never want to see potentially dangerous forms of BioTech become decentralized. Centralized sources are easy to monitor and control. If anyone can potentially make an engineered pandemic in their garage, then no amount of education will be enough for sufficient safety margin. Think of how many people people cut fingers off in home table saws or lawnmowers or whatever. DIY is a great way to learn through trial and error, but not so great where errors have serious consequences.
The "economic activation energy" for both malicious rogue groups and accidental catastrophes is just too low, and Murphy's law takes over. However if the economic activation energy is a million dollars of general purpose bio lab equipment, that's much safer, but would require heavy regulation on the national level. Currently it's something like a billion dollars of dedicated bio warfare effort, and has to be regulated on the international level. (by the Geneva Protocol and the Biological Warfare Convention)
I'd agree with you here. Although money is a fantastic motivator for repetitive tasks, it has the opposite effect on coming up with insightful ideas.
I was really saying - save your money till after people shoot off some low-hanging fruit ideas.
I would argue that the current barrier of "it costs lots of money to do bio-hacking right" is a terrible one to hide behind because of how easy it is to overcome it; or do biohacking less-right and less-safely. i.e. without safe containment areas.
Perhaps funding things like clean-rooms with negative pressure and leaving the rest up to whoever is using the lab-space.