Like other commenters, I’m also glad you posted this. It is very realistic, and I suspect it is a much more representative story of attempts to contribute to EA than the “social media curated” stories and “survivorship bias perspectives” that we so easily and unconsciously develop.
I specifically enjoyed that you included this sentence: If I had a nickel for every time someone says, “AI safety desperately needs more engineers,” when there are <2 recent job postings, well… earning-to-give would be back on the table. I have thought of that exact scenario, and parallel situations with other job functions, frequently.
I also think that when you write that Most EA’s can’t go to EA Global. Most EA’s can’t attend local meetups. Most don’t post here or on Discord. you are right. A lot of people are not going to leave their family and kids (and other responsibilities) for a multi-day conference hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Thanks! I feel very fortunate to have skills at least somewhat relevant to EA, because I imagine that many would-be EA’s don’t qualify for even a single job on the job boards. Of course my brain twists my “fortune” into “why are you wasting it then?” but some part of me knows that’s the wrong way to look at it, and I’m hopeful that part will win eventually.
Hopefully over time EA can grow to become more and more accessible to people. There are some remote meetup options that I “should” (hopefully someday without guilt...) get myself to attend. I deeply appreciate the work everyone in the community is doing to accommodate people with different life/personal constraints.
Like other commenters, I’m also glad you posted this. It is very realistic, and I suspect it is a much more representative story of attempts to contribute to EA than the “social media curated” stories and “survivorship bias perspectives” that we so easily and unconsciously develop.
I specifically enjoyed that you included this sentence: If I had a nickel for every time someone says, “AI safety desperately needs more engineers,” when there are <2 recent job postings, well… earning-to-give would be back on the table. I have thought of that exact scenario, and parallel situations with other job functions, frequently.
I also think that when you write that Most EA’s can’t go to EA Global. Most EA’s can’t attend local meetups. Most don’t post here or on Discord. you are right. A lot of people are not going to leave their family and kids (and other responsibilities) for a multi-day conference hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Thanks! I feel very fortunate to have skills at least somewhat relevant to EA, because I imagine that many would-be EA’s don’t qualify for even a single job on the job boards. Of course my brain twists my “fortune” into “why are you wasting it then?” but some part of me knows that’s the wrong way to look at it, and I’m hopeful that part will win eventually.
Hopefully over time EA can grow to become more and more accessible to people. There are some remote meetup options that I “should” (hopefully someday without guilt...) get myself to attend. I deeply appreciate the work everyone in the community is doing to accommodate people with different life/personal constraints.