I disagree somewhat; if we directly fund critiques, it might be easier to make sure a large portion of the community actually sees them. If we post a critique to the EA Forum under the heading “winners of the EA criticism contest,” it’ll gain more traction with EAs than if the author just posted it on their personal blog. EA-funded critiques would also be targeted more towards persuading people who already believe in the idea, which may make them better.
While critiques will probably be published anyway, increasing the number of critiques seems good; there may be many people who have insights into problems in EA but wouldn’t have published them due to lack of motivation or an unargumentative nature.
Holding such a contest may also convey useful signaling to people in and outside the EA community and hopefully promote a genuine culture of open-mindedness.
I disagree somewhat; if we directly fund critiques, it might be easier to make sure a large portion of the community actually sees them. If we post a critique to the EA Forum under the heading “winners of the EA criticism contest,” it’ll gain more traction with EAs than if the author just posted it on their personal blog. EA-funded critiques would also be targeted more towards persuading people who already believe in the idea, which may make them better.
While critiques will probably be published anyway, increasing the number of critiques seems good; there may be many people who have insights into problems in EA but wouldn’t have published them due to lack of motivation or an unargumentative nature.
Holding such a contest may also convey useful signaling to people in and outside the EA community and hopefully promote a genuine culture of open-mindedness.