The Sentience Institute (SI) is an American interdisciplinary

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

that specializes in

effective altruism Effective altruism is a philosophical and social movement that advocates "using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis". People who pursue the goals of effective altruism, ca ...

and

social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...

research. It was founded by Jacy Reese Anthis and Kelly Anthis in June 2017 and has published research reports on various social movements and new technologies.

History

The Sentience Institute was founded on the principle of

, a philosophy and social movement that uses evidence and reasoning to determine the most effective ways to benefit others. The institute bills itself as, "an advocacy think tank researching and advising advocates on the most effective strategies to expand humanity's moral circle." Its founders, Kelly Witwicki and Jacy Reese Anthis, were working at Sentience Politics, which was part of the Effective Altruism Foundation. Sentience Politics is now a nonprofit organization running political initiatives in the German-speaking area. Anthis had also previously worked at Animal Charity Evaluators as chair of the board of directors and then as a full-time researcher. Anthis and Witwicki were selected for

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); ...

's 2017 "Humans of the Year" award. Reporter Matthew Gault described the institute's research agenda as "a huge endeavor." Kelly spoke of the need for evidence and research in the study of social movements: Witwicki and Anthis married in 2020.

Research

Sentience Institute synthesizes some of its research into a Summary of Evidence for Foundational Questions in Effective Animal Advocacy, which catalogs evidence from a variety of sources with implications for animal advocacy movement strategy. Since 2017, the institute has published several

white papers A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

including a study of the British antislavery movement, a study of the French

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

movement, and a study of

genetically modified food Genetically modified foods (GM foods), also known as genetically engineered foods (GE foods), or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. Gene ...

. The institute polled the views of American adults towards animal agriculture, most notably finding that 47% agreed with the statement, "I support a ban on slaughterhouses." It was replicated in January 2018 by a team of agricultural economists at Oklahoma State University who found the same result. In November 2018, Anthis, writing under the pen-name "Jacy Reese", published ''

The End of Animal Farming ''The End of Animal Farming: How Scientists, Entrepreneurs, and Activists Are Building an Animal-Free Food System'' is a 2018 book by Jacy Reese that argues animal farming will end by the year 2100 based on effective altruism reasoning and soci ...

'', which summarizes and builds on most of the institute's research and communicates it with the general public. Near the end of the book, Reese concludes that, "if I had to speculate, I would say by 2100 all forms of farming will seem outdated and barbaric." Reese criticizes the notion of humane meat.

References

External links

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The Sentience Institute Podcast
' {{Effective altruism 2017 establishments in New York City 501(c)(3) organizations Animal think tanks Animal welfare organizations based in the United States Nonpartisan organizations in the United States Non-profit organizations based in New York City Organizations associated with effective altruism Political and economic think tanks in the United States Think tanks based in the United States Think tanks established in 2017

History

Research

See also

References

External links