That’s a good point. You made me aware of a certain population of potential hotel residents that would be better off building career capital elsewhere. But I think “almost every case” is an overstatement. Here’s some idealized examples, for the sake of argument:
The person with the high-profile career that decides to do independent research instead of taking a job at a multinational NGO that eventually leads them to a lot more influence
The EA-adjacent software developer that would have drifted outside of the community, if not for a place at the EA Hotel where they’re doing useful knowledge work
The entrepreneurial person that starts an EA organisation at the hotel, instead of doing a second-grade Master’s degree in relative obscurity because they were never good at caring about grades
Would you agree that the first would be a net loss, while the second and the third would be a net gain? I’m curious what you think our pool of residents is like, and how this influences your opinion.
I guess I find these scenarios hard to relate to because I can think of a lot of better solutions for 2 and 3 then the EA Hotel. Like 2 could work on their impactful project part time until it’s good enough that someone would fund it (at which point the EA Hotel becomes really useful!), or they could become more involved in their local EA community or another community of donors. 3 could get a job at a startup so they better understand entrepreneurship, or take part in Charity Entrepreneurship. But yes, independent projects at the EA Hotel are better than the alternatives listed.
I live in a place with no established EA community and I don’t see myself working on a project part-time with no oversight because I’ve been there, done that, and largely failed, because in the long term, isolation was hard for me. Charity Entrepreneurship? This is the first I’ve heard of it. For me, moving to a place like EA hotel would be a great way to “break into” the EA community; paying my way at an EA hotel (£10/day) is more attractive to me than attempting to get a job in an expensive EA hub like SF or NY, since I already tried to do that and failed. [That said I’m not going to this EA hotel since I’m not British.]
Remember that we’re not all Ivy league here. I graduated merely with honors from a local university.
That’s a good point. You made me aware of a certain population of potential hotel residents that would be better off building career capital elsewhere. But I think “almost every case” is an overstatement. Here’s some idealized examples, for the sake of argument:
The person with the high-profile career that decides to do independent research instead of taking a job at a multinational NGO that eventually leads them to a lot more influence
The EA-adjacent software developer that would have drifted outside of the community, if not for a place at the EA Hotel where they’re doing useful knowledge work
The entrepreneurial person that starts an EA organisation at the hotel, instead of doing a second-grade Master’s degree in relative obscurity because they were never good at caring about grades
Would you agree that the first would be a net loss, while the second and the third would be a net gain? I’m curious what you think our pool of residents is like, and how this influences your opinion.
I guess I find these scenarios hard to relate to because I can think of a lot of better solutions for 2 and 3 then the EA Hotel. Like 2 could work on their impactful project part time until it’s good enough that someone would fund it (at which point the EA Hotel becomes really useful!), or they could become more involved in their local EA community or another community of donors. 3 could get a job at a startup so they better understand entrepreneurship, or take part in Charity Entrepreneurship. But yes, independent projects at the EA Hotel are better than the alternatives listed.
I live in a place with no established EA community and I don’t see myself working on a project part-time with no oversight because I’ve been there, done that, and largely failed, because in the long term, isolation was hard for me. Charity Entrepreneurship? This is the first I’ve heard of it. For me, moving to a place like EA hotel would be a great way to “break into” the EA community; paying my way at an EA hotel (£10/day) is more attractive to me than attempting to get a job in an expensive EA hub like SF or NY, since I already tried to do that and failed. [That said I’m not going to this EA hotel since I’m not British.]
Remember that we’re not all Ivy league here. I graduated merely with honors from a local university.