I’ve never affiliated with a university group. I’m sad to hear that at least some university groups seem to be trying to appeal to ambitious prestige-chasers, and I hope it’s not something that the CEA Groups team has applied generally. I wonder if it comes from a short-sighted strategy of trying to catch those who are most likely to end up in powerful positions in the future, which would be in line with the reasons there has been a focus on the most prestigious universities. I call it short-sighted because filling the next generation of your movement with people who are light on values and strong on politics seems like a certain way to kill what’s valuable about EA (such as commitments to altruism and truth-seeking).
I’ll note that I think that choosing to prioritize resources (or support) for top universities doesn’t imply that one thinks that EAs need to be any less altruistic or truth-seeking. One can prioritize groups at top universities while (for example) maintaining the same threshold for what a good organizer or group member looks like. These kinds of strategies might result in less diversity overall, but I don’t think they result in having less altruistic people.
Indeed not. I think that trying to appeal to those who chase prestige selects against truth-seeking and altruism, and I don’t think merely focusing on top unis has that effect. I’m responding to the part of the post about appealing to prestige chasers.
I think prestige has been one strategy in CB but not one wholly applied across CBs, it’s been one I noticed worked a lot in certain groups based on my experience
I’ve never affiliated with a university group. I’m sad to hear that at least some university groups seem to be trying to appeal to ambitious prestige-chasers, and I hope it’s not something that the CEA Groups team has applied generally. I wonder if it comes from a short-sighted strategy of trying to catch those who are most likely to end up in powerful positions in the future, which would be in line with the reasons there has been a focus on the most prestigious universities. I call it short-sighted because filling the next generation of your movement with people who are light on values and strong on politics seems like a certain way to kill what’s valuable about EA (such as commitments to altruism and truth-seeking).
I’ll note that I think that choosing to prioritize resources (or support) for top universities doesn’t imply that one thinks that EAs need to be any less altruistic or truth-seeking. One can prioritize groups at top universities while (for example) maintaining the same threshold for what a good organizer or group member looks like. These kinds of strategies might result in less diversity overall, but I don’t think they result in having less altruistic people.
Indeed not. I think that trying to appeal to those who chase prestige selects against truth-seeking and altruism, and I don’t think merely focusing on top unis has that effect. I’m responding to the part of the post about appealing to prestige chasers.
I think prestige has been one strategy in CB but not one wholly applied across CBs, it’s been one I noticed worked a lot in certain groups based on my experience