Agreed. For what it's worth, I would probably use (as a creator and/or donor) the platform if it went straight to a charity (e.g. one of, say, three that the creator offers, and the donor chooses from) but not if it went to a delayed allocation pot.

Great to see EA activity in the North of England. I would love to join but am unavailable on the event date. If you haven't already, I recommend sharing with the Blackpool EA hotel folk.

Thanks for your work on this @matthes! I helped run this group as a university group around 2017-2020. I'm glad to hear it's starting up again. @Matt Goodman , @Callum Hinchcliffe might be interested.

Animal Liberation and Famine, Affluence, and Morality are two of the most influential texts that I have ever read. Which texts have had the most influence on you?

If you were in your twenties now, with your career ahead of you, with the aim of trying to help the world in a big way, what would you do? In particular, what would you do differently to what you did in your twenties and why?

Do you think that artificial sentience is possible? Is it likely and/or inevitable in the next, say, 10 years of AI development?

Please could you outline your views on moral realism? In particular your recent-ish transition from anti-realist to realist. What triggered this? Has it had any impacts on the way you live your life?

Hey Jordan, I work in the space sector and I'm also based in London. I am currently working on a Government project assessing the impact of space weather on UK critical national infrastructure. I've written a little on the existential risk of space weather, too, e.g. https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/9gjc4ok4GfwuyRASL/cosmic-rays-could-cause-major-electronic-disruption-and-pose

I'll message you as it would be good to connect!

The explosion of a nuclear bomb is "temporary", yet carries an extinction risk. Transient events can trigger long-term changes the Earth environment, transforming it into an inhospitable place. "Temporary" events can destroy the world.

There is a rich field of research into space weather and its impacts on modern technology. The 2013 Royal Academy of Engineering report on Extreme Space Weather  is a good place to start (although it is UK-focussed). The most likely impacts are on electricity networks. Widespread blackouts lasting several months, which would have extreme impacts on critical services, are expected to occur in a 100-year geomagnetic storm. Damage to satellites, satellite services (GPS, satellite timing, etc), and disruption to mobile and radio communication is also expe... (read more)

Thanks for the comment. I REALLY like the way you put it in the first paragraph. You've put the idea into better words than I could have done. If it goes down well at the unconference, I'll be in touch. It will be helpful to chat to an audio engineer.

I agree with the paragraph about interviewing the most engaged people.

Thanks for your offer of help. If the response from the unconference is positive, I will be in touch with you to see if there is a way that you can contribute.

I agree with audio quality being a priority, especially with a remote interviewee. If the response from the unconference is positive, I was thinking of applying for funding for good quality hardware and software from e.g. the EA meta fund. As well as interviewing people who already have a good quality microphone, another option whi... (read more)

Thanks for the feedback. A comment like this is useful at this stage as I'm trying to get an understanding for whether people would listen to this sort of thing.

Ace! this is the first time I've heard of that podcast. Thanks for sharing.

I've added a link now. After all, I need to turn up my "willingness to shamelessly self-promote" dial if I'm going to get this podcast off the ground!

Thanks for your interest in being an interviewee. I'll keep a log of those who are interested and will be in touch if the project has enough interest to get up and running.

"Everyday EA" - A new EA podcast

Summary:

I am in the very early stages of creating a new EA podcast with the working title: Everyday EA. The podcast would be informal interviews with people in the EA community (broadly) who are not particularly well known, yet are doing valuable work, even if they aren’t yet the most successful person in their field. I’d like to use this session to get feedback on the initial idea, to talk to people who have podcasting experience, and to search for possible collaborators.

Details:

Many people in the co... (read more)

I can also vouch for the Stronglifts 5x5 programme.

Training with a team and focusing on improvement (e.g. weight lifted, running time for a given distance, rock climbing grade), where improved health and well-being is the secondary benefit, has helped with my motivation a lot.

Sentience Institute released a new podcast on effective animal advocacy just today!

Done. Thanks for the nudge to put a little more time into it.

Great post, Jamie. Thank you. Perhaps having a well-made online course on EAA would be helpful for bottleneck (1). It could be a go-to resource for new employees and volunteers at EAA organisations and be helpful for activist to get an eye for effectiveness.

Downsides are that it would take quite some time to make.

I would be moderately interested in getting involved with the creation of this if it's thought to be a worthwhile project. Udemy is the first platform that springs to mind for this.

That's for the inspiring story, and to all the previous commenters.

My memory is one of my most failing attributes, but this post has encouraged me to contribute to this forum for the first time after being an occasional spectator, so here goes.

In early 2016, I was playing table-tennis with my older brother. Table-tennis is a unique game because it takes a lot of concentration, yet it is possible to have a fully engaged conversation with your opponent at the same time. Back and forth, we talked. I said something like this:

“I’m gonna start a PhD soon. I’ll e... (read more)