Hi all.
Like a lot of people that have had a connection to EA I am appalled by the close connection between the FTX scandal and EA. But not surprised.
The EA community events I attended totally killed my passion for EA. I attended an EA global conference in London and left feeling really really sad. Before the conference I was told I was not important enough or not worth the time to get career advice. One person I'd met before at local EA events made it clear that he didn't want to waste time talking to me (this was in the guide btw to make it clear if you don't think someone is worth your time). Well it certainly made me unconfident and uncomfortable to approach anyone else. I found the whole thing miserable. Everyone went out to take photo for the conference and I didn't bother. I don't want to be part of a community that I didn't feel happy in.
On a less personal level, I overheard some unpleasant conversations about how EA should only be reserved for the intellectual elite (whatever the fuck that is) and how diversity didn't really matter. How they were annoyed that women got talks just for being women.
Honestly, the whole place just reeked of hubris - everyone was so sure they were right, people had no interest in you as a person. I have never experienced more unfriendly, self-important, uncompassionate people in my life (I am 31 now). It was of course the last time I was ever involved with anything EA related.
Maybe you read this and can dismiss it with yeah but issues are too important to waste time with petty small talk or showing interest in others. Or your subjective experience doesn't matter. Or we talk about rationality and complex ideas here , not personal opinions.
But that is the whole point I'm trying to make. When you take away the human element, when you're so focused on grandiose ideas and certain of your perfect rationality, you end up dismissing the fast thinking necessary to make good ethical decisions. Anyone that values human kindness would run a mile from someone that doesn't have the respect to listen to someone talking to them and makes clear that their video game is valued above that person. Similarly to the long history of Musk's contempt for ordinary people.
EA just seems so focused on being ethical that it forgot how to be nice. In my opinion, a new more inclusive organisation with a focus on making a positive impact needs to be created - with a better name.
Posting from an alt account...
Definitely feel like hubris and elitism damage new ideas being explored within the EA space. Speaking from my experience with a new idea that I founded a non-profit to promote, I have found the EA community generally unhelpful, with a few notable exceptions.
I was encouraged when I heard 80k and other sources discuss the value of exploration in conjunction with exploitation. This would mean if there isn't evidence to support a new idea or intervention, but there is a plausible mechanism of impact, search costs are usually warranted. However, when discussing my idea, typically there was an exultation of "red-teaming" with very little discussion of development of the idea or empirical validation. I know that strongly evaluating the possibe limitations and downsides of new ideas is indispensable, but the degree to which this is valorized over idea development is absurd with respect to new ideas.
My experience interacting briefly with people with some power and influence in EA was rather disappointing as well. Always had the impression that organizations thought the existing thought leaders knew essentially all of the areas in which fruitful interventions might be found or ideas had merit. As far as EA using its resources to aid projects, the central consideration has seemed to be the connections one has made. A defense of this allocation can be made in that people with good ideas will eventually become known within EA, but the process is slow and selects for those with networking skills and patience.
When applying for grants with EAIF, a declination was not met with any explanation. The reasoning was that they did not have time. The notion that EAIF lacks the resources to hire sufficient staff that one could explain deficiencies in a grant proposal is absurd. It seems to me that either they they don't hold people trying to contribute to EA in new ways in high regard, or that an explanation would potentially render them in some way accountable.
My local EA group is nice, but the focus seems to be valorizing EAs heroes rather than support ideas of the members. They often are unwilling to dedicate any thought or time to new members' ideas. I would think that such groups could be working together to explore and develop high EV potential ways to better the world. Instead, my experience has been that of a fan club of thought leaders.
I cannot help but feel concerned that there are many people with awesome ideas that could produce high EV that lack my stubornity and/or confidence in my idea. I am a very strong believer in the core of EA: using reason to ascertain how to do the greatest good and doggedly pursuing it. I would think it would be immensely high EV to cultivate new ideas, evaluate the means and costs of empirical testing, and helping EAs, in fact implement tests.
EA purports to value new ideas, but it appears in action often unhelpful and even smothering with regard to their development.
Can I simply concur by point out an example from just yesterday. A woman by the name of Keerthana Gopalakrishnan posted on the forum relating her experience of being sexually harassed at EA events. The general response was not one of empathy, or an attempt to understand how the movement might address this serious problem. Instead, it was to prod, poke and question, invigilating her every claim as if it were a philosophy essay. The apparent assumption being that there is only one genre of writing - analytic, rationalistic - and anything short of that, no ma... (read more)