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Looking for: songs or art that inspire EA values
Answer by JanaKiaraFeb 08, 20243
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I find the genre Hopepunk incredibly inspiring. Vox article about Hopepunk;

Here's a Spotify playlist, which has some of the best songs of the genre.

Highlighting a couple of my favorites:

  • Be Afraid by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Spotify): "Be afraid, be very afraid. And then do it anyway" (AI alignment, anyone?)
  • Matches by Guante, Dem Atlas (Spotify): "The reason that I'm not a nihilist is that some day I wanna live like in Star Trek. And I know that we'll never build starships until we tackle poverty, war, and hardship." 
    • Guante is my personal favorit
... (read more)
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Devin Kalish
3mo
On the topic of hopepunk (and to an extent Secular Solstice since that came up in another comment), I want to mention the Mary Ellen Carter by Stan Rogers, which is quite important to me for similar reasons.
How much do EAGs cost (and why)?
JanaKiara7mo1
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many others work jobs for which they can't easily take time off for our event

 

Potential counter-argument(s): 
- some EA organisations count this as work-time anyway, so it might not matter; 
- in general, some organisations have a self-development time-budget where people are allowed/supposed to take up to X days a year for conferences and workshops (usually 5, I think), so might be worth looking into;

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If you find EA conferences emotionally difficult, you're not alone
JanaKiara1y5
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I think this kind of post is so important and should get highlighted on the front page every time shortly before an EAG. Just so people get reminded that this is a thing.

For a more personal addition:
I found EAG and now the days afterwards really difficult to navigate. It was my first (I've been to one EAGx before). I knew I was supposed to schedule 1:1s, but didn't, because I didn't really have a goal for EAG. I have a job that I like and want to keep doing for a bit. There was no particular question I had for anyone. I just wanted to be there, see a few t... (read more)

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Amber Dawn
1y
I do think the focus on 1:1s is a bit over-intense. Obviously they can be really helpful or interesting with the right people, but it feels a bit like (some) EAs were like 'moderate amounts of this thing is obviously good - maybe EXTREME amounts would be EVEN BETTER'. More dakka is definitely an appropriate attitude sometimes, but sometimes it's better to have a balance of mutually-enhancing different things (in this case, a balance of 1:1s, unstructured hanging-out-with-strangers, talks, catching up with friends, and rest, perhaps?) Incidentally, I really enjoyed being a Logistics volunteer at EAGx Cambridge, because it gave me a break from all the intense people-ing, and I brought more energy to the interactions I did have.  It's also kinda funny that the organisers put all this effort into producing talks, and then kinda dissuade people from going to them! (even though some of them are really good).
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Vaidehi Agarwalla
1y
Hey Jana, thanks for sharing. I'm very sorry to hear people mocked you - that is not acceptable behavior and I'm sorry you experienced it. I agree with the talk to a stranger thing! I think I've noted it as far back as 2018 in my feedback forms to have more spaces like this - especially having dining tables with signs to join people at meal times. I also think I noticed people huddling more along org lines this conference than at previous ones, which makes sense but is a bit sad (since those folks already know each other).