I think outreach from EA to other organizations is great. Part of EA growing bigger is going to be showing that we are not contemptuous of others who are trying to do good that are not within our umbrella… Maybe we won’t be able to get the dog shelter volunteer to switch to studying AGI alignment, but maybe he or she might consider expanding empathy to farmed animals and donating to effective charities that address factory farming.
Meeting people where they are at with empathy and respect is a powerful way of being. If we can connect with the altruism and compassion of a broader set of people, we may be able to nudge them to channel some of their efforts in an EA way.
Love it— I’m always thinking of these types of potential initiatives. I do strongly feel the lack of collaboration among social and other for-good movements are a major impediment to our impact and our growth that probably needs to be prioritized more. One easy one to point to would be animal advocacy and environmental movements.
The age-old saying “we are stronger together” holds a lot of truth, if we want EA and other movements to grow, we need to improve our ability to reach out and support allies with similar missions. I personally think the best way to do that is, and you nailed it, offering support, rather than asking for something from them (even if our intentions are good and ultimately help them).
I think outreach from EA to other organizations is great. Part of EA growing bigger is going to be showing that we are not contemptuous of others who are trying to do good that are not within our umbrella… Maybe we won’t be able to get the dog shelter volunteer to switch to studying AGI alignment, but maybe he or she might consider expanding empathy to farmed animals and donating to effective charities that address factory farming.
Meeting people where they are at with empathy and respect is a powerful way of being. If we can connect with the altruism and compassion of a broader set of people, we may be able to nudge them to channel some of their efforts in an EA way.
Love it— I’m always thinking of these types of potential initiatives. I do strongly feel the lack of collaboration among social and other for-good movements are a major impediment to our impact and our growth that probably needs to be prioritized more. One easy one to point to would be animal advocacy and environmental movements.
The age-old saying “we are stronger together” holds a lot of truth, if we want EA and other movements to grow, we need to improve our ability to reach out and support allies with similar missions. I personally think the best way to do that is, and you nailed it, offering support, rather than asking for something from them (even if our intentions are good and ultimately help them).