All of edwardhaigh's Comments + Replies

Have you thought of recording the sessions and putting them online afterwards? I'd be interested in watching, but couldn't apply (on a honeymoon in Tahoe, which is close enough to Berkeley, but I imagine my partner would kill me if I went missing each day to attend an ML bootcamp). 

1
jacobjacob
2y
Not addressing video recordings specifically; but we might run future iterations of this bootcamp if there's enough interest, it goes well and it continues to seem valuable. So feel free to submit the application form while noting you're only interested in future cohorts. 

Sorry I wasn't clear, I'm thinking on the spot.  Say someone who leaves has an x chance of being the spark that starts a revolution within North Korea. Without this person, the chance of revolution has decreased, so it will take longer for it to potentially happen. Therefore, we should include the entire population of North Korea's happiness plus their descendants to this calculation based on the increased unlikelihood of their freedom. 

These probabilities are made up purely for example but say there's a 0.01% chance any of these people could hav... (read more)

5
Kirsten
2y
I'm uncertain about this - I've heard people often send messages back, and I imagine a society where people regularly escape the country would be somewhat destabilising as well.

Great! Harness the perfectionist within you, and point it towards the goal of hitting your target with minimum effort.

Instead of being a perfectionist about the paper, be a perfectionist about writing the paper. Be a perfectionist about identifying good strategies, about abandoning sunk costs, about killing your darlings, about noticing when you're done. Be a perfectionist about wasting no attention. Be a perfectionist about learning from your mistakes. Perfectionism can be a powerful tool, but there's no need to point it at overachieving on metrics you do

... (read more)

I agree with these points. I've worked in the space for a few years (most notably for IOHK working on Cardano) and am happy to offer some advice. Saying that, I would much rather work on something directly valuable (climate change or food security) than earning to give at the moment... 

I remember there being some sort of text saying you should try a 1% donation for a few years first to check you're happy making the pledge. Perhaps this issue has been resolved since you joined? 

Less cost-effective: Those who flea North Korea are likely rebellious, anti-authoritarian, and brave. By accommodating these people in fleeing, are we reducing the chance of internal pressure in North Korea that could topple the regime and result in these benefits happening for the whole population?  

If we include descendants as 'more cost-effective', then we should include them in the 'less cost-effective' column when calculating the possibility that someone who leaves, had they remained, could have had an impact on earlier freedom in North Korea.

2
MichaelStJules
2y
Good points. Do you mean that a larger NK population in general makes freedom more likely? It isn't clear to me we should expect much effect at all here, since many will also support the regime due to indoctrination and incentives, although, I suppose more things in general will happen with a larger population? The descendants of people inclined to flee may be disproportionately likely to contribute to freedom there, too, though, due to the influence of their parents.