So, some high-level suggestions based on my interactions with other people I have are:
Being more explicit about this in 80K hours calls or talking about the funding bar (potentially somehow with grantmakers/ intro’ing to successful candidates who do independent stuff). Maybe organisations could explicitly state this in their fellowship/intern/job applications: “Only 10 out of 300 last year got selected” so that people don’t over-rely on some applications.
There is a very obvious point that Community Builders can only do so much because their general job is to point resources out and set initial things rolling. I think that as community builders, being vocal about this from an early point is important. This could look like, “Hey, I only know as much as you do now that you have read AGI SF and Superintelligence.” Community builders could also try connecting with slightly more senior people and doing intros on a selective basis(e.g., I know a few good community builders who try to go out of their way to an EAGx to score convos with such people).
I think metrics for 80K, and CBs need to be more heavily weighted towards(if not already) “X went on to do an internship and publish a paper” and away from “this guy read superintelligence and did a fun hackathon”. The latter also creates weird sub-incentives for community members to score brownie points with CBs and make a lot of movement with little impactful progress.
Talking about creating your own opportunities seems really untalked about in EA circles- there is a lot of talk about finding opportunities and overwhelming newcomers with EA org webpages, which, coupled with neglectedness, causes them to overestimate the opportunities. Maybe there could be a guide for this, some sort of a group/support for this?
For early career folks, maybe there could be some sort of a peer buddy system where people who are a little bit further down the road can get matched and collaborate/talk. A lot of these conversations involve safe spaces, building trust and talking about really sensitive issues(like finances, runway planning and critical feedback on applications). I have been lucky to build such a circle within EA, but I recognize that’s only because of certain opportunities I got early on, along with being comfortable with reaching out to people, something which not necessarily everyone is.
We need to identify more proactive people who already have a track record of social impact/being driven by certain kinds of research instead of just high-potential people- these are probably the only people who will actually convert to returns for the movement(very crudely speaking). This is even more true in non-EA hubs where good connections aren’t just one local meetup away as with NYC or Oxford. I think there is a higher attrition rate of high-potential people in LMICs, at least partly due to this.
Any suggestions?
So, some high-level suggestions based on my interactions with other people I have are:
Being more explicit about this in 80K hours calls or talking about the funding bar (potentially somehow with grantmakers/ intro’ing to successful candidates who do independent stuff). Maybe organisations could explicitly state this in their fellowship/intern/job applications: “Only 10 out of 300 last year got selected” so that people don’t over-rely on some applications.
There is a very obvious point that Community Builders can only do so much because their general job is to point resources out and set initial things rolling. I think that as community builders, being vocal about this from an early point is important. This could look like, “Hey, I only know as much as you do now that you have read AGI SF and Superintelligence.” Community builders could also try connecting with slightly more senior people and doing intros on a selective basis(e.g., I know a few good community builders who try to go out of their way to an EAGx to score convos with such people).
I think metrics for 80K, and CBs need to be more heavily weighted towards(if not already) “X went on to do an internship and publish a paper” and away from “this guy read superintelligence and did a fun hackathon”. The latter also creates weird sub-incentives for community members to score brownie points with CBs and make a lot of movement with little impactful progress.
Talking about creating your own opportunities seems really untalked about in EA circles- there is a lot of talk about finding opportunities and overwhelming newcomers with EA org webpages, which, coupled with neglectedness, causes them to overestimate the opportunities. Maybe there could be a guide for this, some sort of a group/support for this?
For early career folks, maybe there could be some sort of a peer buddy system where people who are a little bit further down the road can get matched and collaborate/talk. A lot of these conversations involve safe spaces, building trust and talking about really sensitive issues(like finances, runway planning and critical feedback on applications). I have been lucky to build such a circle within EA, but I recognize that’s only because of certain opportunities I got early on, along with being comfortable with reaching out to people, something which not necessarily everyone is.
We need to identify more proactive people who already have a track record of social impact/being driven by certain kinds of research instead of just high-potential people- these are probably the only people who will actually convert to returns for the movement(very crudely speaking). This is even more true in non-EA hubs where good connections aren’t just one local meetup away as with NYC or Oxford. I think there is a higher attrition rate of high-potential people in LMICs, at least partly due to this.