We are playing for the future, for the survival of the human race. We can’t afford to let relatively petty squabbles divide us too much!
I think this is the sort of reasoning that has a) possibly contributed to some of the recent damaging behaviour by EAs and b) almost certainly contributed to the failure to take that behaviour seriously enough.
Everything is “relatively petty” when compared to the survival of the human race, but I don’t think that’s the relevant comparison here.
It’s also the sort of reasoning that has let us get billions of dollars into funding for effective solutions, saved tens of thousands of lives, and created a broad social movement with tremendous impact and impact potential down the road.
The totalizing reasoning of EA does have negative aspects, but I don’t think we should throw out the baby with the bathwater! It is possible to salvage the good parts of the EA framework while maturing the movement. To do that we have to make sure to reduce tribal tensions and work towards understanding.
Please see my other comment for why I disagree with this comment (and also downvoted it, as I want to see fewer comments like this).
I’m also sick of the referencing Scott Alexander—without any explanatory comment for how the article relates to the point in question—as some sort of knockdown argument.
I think this is the sort of reasoning that has a) possibly contributed to some of the recent damaging behaviour by EAs and b) almost certainly contributed to the failure to take that behaviour seriously enough.
Everything is “relatively petty” when compared to the survival of the human race, but I don’t think that’s the relevant comparison here.
It’s also the sort of reasoning that has let us get billions of dollars into funding for effective solutions, saved tens of thousands of lives, and created a broad social movement with tremendous impact and impact potential down the road.
The totalizing reasoning of EA does have negative aspects, but I don’t think we should throw out the baby with the bathwater! It is possible to salvage the good parts of the EA framework while maturing the movement. To do that we have to make sure to reduce tribal tensions and work towards understanding.
Optimize for light, rather than heat.
Please see my other comment for why I disagree with this comment (and also downvoted it, as I want to see fewer comments like this).
I’m also sick of the referencing Scott Alexander—without any explanatory comment for how the article relates to the point in question—as some sort of knockdown argument.