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My main takeaway from this post is that people who are on a clear path to becoming world-class (or already are) can be great advocates for EA or for effective giving among their (fringe/​prestigious) peer group, and that the EA community should be welcoming and encouraging them to be active members of the community. I do think that the concerns raised and the framing of the conclusion are apt.

Engaging with the prompt, I am considering an academic career. This may not lead to me being world class (say, win a Nobel Prize), but this is a likely path to becoming high status which has similar merits. I guess that in the technical or research oriented world, it is easier to have both high status and to do EA-aligned work, so I do not think of this as a major consideration.

I find it interesting that the three arguments given also apply somewhat to the value of high social skills:

1. Better social skills lead to stronger connections. People with exceptional social skills can also be more likely to connect with high status individuals.

2. Being more charismatic helps one be more persuasive (in a different manner than written above).

3. Having more people with high social skills in the community can help newcomers feel more at ease and engaged with EA.

Thanks for the post, really interesting read! I find your arguments quite intriguing.

Whether aiming at becoming world class is a valid strategy or not seems to vary quite a lot depending on which area we’re talking about. I guess for musicians it’s very difficult to make such an argument—there are just too many highly talented people out there, plus there seems to be a lot of luck/​randomness involved in achieving fame/​recognition there. So even if you’re an extremely capable singer/​guitar player/​drummer/​..., the chances may just be too slim. Things may look different for more exotic instruments, or even sports that aren’t very popular. If you have the right preconditions to be good at discus throwing, and you decide to give everything to become world class at it, the chances are probably much higher you’ll succeed simply due to the much smaller base rate of people sharing that goal. And while the recognition that comes with it is certainly reduced when compared to actors/​musicians/​NBA stars etc., I’m pretty sure the “expected recognition” when taking such a path is much, much higher overall.

Similarly, there surely are many artists, but it’s quite possible that certain niches with a lot of potential for motivated individuals exist.

Secondly, when stating that generally it seems like a good idea to have more world class in anything people in the movement, there are of course the two options of either developing those people from within the movement (which we’re mostly discussing here), or advocating among already world class at something people to join the movement. I’m not sure if any organized attempt to achieve the latter already exists, but it might certainly be worthwhile as well, and for many of the more mainstream areas, I’d argue the chances of this strategy to get more world class at something people into the movement are much higher than via the “hold my beer I can do this” approach.

It’s not obvious to me how to get order of magnitude estimates on the expected value of these considerations. They seem likely to be true, but I’m uncertain how to weigh against the value of a ‘traditional’ EA-aligned career. (Edited for clarity)