Do you worry that selection effects are blinding you to the reality that most ambitious EA’s have mediocre careers? Worry no more as you hear the depressing story of how I did not become like Sam Bankman-Fried or the Moskovitz’s.
Perhaps EA culture needs to celebrate failure more? It’s plausible that a significant proportion of EAs fail to achieve their goals. But I think EAs should aim to achieve extremely ambitious goals, because even if some fail, the net impact of the community will be much greater—see the 80k article “Be more ambitious: a rational case for dreaming big (if you want to do good).” If we become more accepting of people who failed despite their best efforts, then we might encourage more people to shoot for the stars.
Perhaps EA culture needs to celebrate failure more? It’s plausible that a significant proportion of EAs fail to achieve their goals. But I think EAs should aim to achieve extremely ambitious goals, because even if some fail, the net impact of the community will be much greater—see the 80k article “Be more ambitious: a rational case for dreaming big (if you want to do good).” If we become more accepting of people who failed despite their best efforts, then we might encourage more people to shoot for the stars.