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All of SereneDesiree's Comments + Replies

I'm Interviewing Kat Woods, EA Powerhouse. What Should I Ask?
SereneDesiree2y2
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Great questions! Can you clarify a little more on how safety and capabilities work is interconnected?

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Answer by SereneDesireeSep 14, 20229
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I've heard a lot of people talking about fear of failure as a motivator for success. Does this fall into a similar category? 

I'm very interested in techniques she uses to get work done, especially work she doesn't necessarily want to do at the time. 

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Where are the EA Influencers?
SereneDesiree2y1
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Quality press sounds like an intelligent idea to be associated with the EA brand. 

I wonder if we could convey simple ideas through influencers without them mentioning EA. For instance, what if we paid an influencer to compare how much money it costs for various charities to complete their goals? We don't need to mention EA, but it may give many charities a significant boost in awareness and (probably) donations. 

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Where are the EA Influencers?
SereneDesiree2y1
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Followed! Keep up the good work! 

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Where are the EA Influencers?
SereneDesiree2y1
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The part about being associated with specific influencers could be a major downfall. If someone gains a negative reputation on the internet, will the movement as a whole suffer? Quite possibly.

I'm unsure about whether EA being a low resolution household name would be net good or bad. I wonder how often people don't give to charity because it's too much effort to find good organizations. If this is a legitimate problem, having EA in the back of their mind might make it easier to donate without thinking about it.  Also, it may simply introduce people to... (read more)

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dzdora
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Thanks for writing this post. I recently saw Simone Giertz introducing 80k in one of her videos and liked the result very much. I think one needs to distinguish the different kinds of content to mitigate the risks you described, and I don't think the goal here has ever been to explain everything EA on TikTok - that is indeed quite unrealistic and dangerous. When it comes to pointing to resources that are freely available and have already been written for a broad audience, though, such as the 80k career guide, using influencers seems like an obvious way to reach more people with negligible downsides. It seems like directing more people toward 1. working on one of the well-researched career paths and/or 2. donating to effective charities has quite some unused potential. Not all of them will (want to) understand the more complex concepts, but that is arguably also not necessary.
SereneDesiree's Quick takes
SereneDesiree2y1
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What is EA's stance on Gain-of-Function Research? (OC)

I recently interviewed a Columbia University parasitologist on GOF research. I picked him, in part, because he was strongly in favor of conducting GOF. According to him, the risks are minimal, and the benefits far outweigh them. 


I'm not a scientist (obviously), but I can't say I agree with the entirety of his argument on the risks. Smallpox has been released from the lab 3 times, so we know that human error has allowed a deadly virus to escape from a lab and kill people. 

It's pretty obvious th... (read more)

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