Is the aim here to generate a bunch of PR for EA, or to actually convince Elon Musk to do more EA-aligned giving?
If the latter, I doubt trying to publicly pressure him into donating to an EA global poverty charity as part of a twitter debate is the best way to do it. (In fact, he already knows several EAs and has donated to EA orgs before.)
The ‘get PR’ angle (along the lines of what Fin is saying below) seems more promising – in that ideally we’d have more ‘public intellectuals’ focused on getting EA into the media & news cycle. This is mainly because the main candidates are doing things that seem even higher value, but I would like to fix this.
I understood it like this: Elon wants to embarrass the bad take on CNN, but he’s actually not averse to donating the money to do something awesomely good (and attention grabbing). If there’s a way to spin a story where he is using a money in a superior and big way, such that it will maybe end up as one of the great things he did in his life, I wouldn’t be shocked if it happens. Without any pressure.
Is the aim here to generate a bunch of PR for EA, or to actually convince Elon Musk to do more EA-aligned giving?
If the latter, I doubt trying to publicly pressure him into donating to an EA global poverty charity as part of a twitter debate is the best way to do it. (In fact, he already knows several EAs and has donated to EA orgs before.)
The ‘get PR’ angle (along the lines of what Fin is saying below) seems more promising – in that ideally we’d have more ‘public intellectuals’ focused on getting EA into the media & news cycle. This is mainly because the main candidates are doing things that seem even higher value, but I would like to fix this.
I suggest the aim should be PR.
Do you have any thoughts on the route to being a public intellectual?
80k has some (short) pointers here: https://80000hours.org/2020/08/ideas-for-high-impact-careers-beyond-our-priority-paths/#become-a-public-intellectual
I understood it like this: Elon wants to embarrass the bad take on CNN, but he’s actually not averse to donating the money to do something awesomely good (and attention grabbing). If there’s a way to spin a story where he is using a money in a superior and big way, such that it will maybe end up as one of the great things he did in his life, I wouldn’t be shocked if it happens. Without any pressure.