An all too common reason I’ve seen to “quit EA” is disliking aspects of the community. Maybe “they’re” too focused on the “wrong cause area” or are skeptical of yours. Maybe “they” annoy you. Maybe “they” publicly attacked you. 

I’m putting quotation marks around “they” to highlight an important thing: EA is composed of individuals. 

Some EAs may annoy you / focus on the "wrong cause area" / publicly attack you / [insert your reason here]. 

But you don’t have to hang out with them! 

Imagine you decided you didn’t like science because you didn’t like some scientists. Or even most scientists! 

That might affect the frequency you go to science conferences. But that shouldn’t affect your appreciation of science itself.

Yes, science is a community, but it’s also a practice, a goal, a method, an idea, results. EA is too. 

Not to mention - you don’t have to interact with most scientists! Or EAs! You can just be picky. 

I only interact with “most EAs” when I post on the EA Forum or the EA subreddit. Otherwise I’ve found my favorite EAs and hangout with them regularly. I treat them as individuals, not as members of a group. I don’t think “I find the majority of this group annoying, therefore, I will leave the entire group.” 

I can imagine stopping posting on the EA Forum because of this. I can imagine stopping going to certain local groups where you dislike a majority of the people that usually attend. These are all rational reactions. 

But don’t “quit EA” because you dislike many or even more EAs. Just be picky about who you hangout with. 

Cross-posted from my Substack