Executive summary: The effective altruist and rationalist communities are very small compared to the global population, containing only a tiny fraction of smart and skilled people across various professions, which has important implications for how these communities should operate and view their capabilities.
Key points:
The EA/rationalist community likely has around 20,000 members globally, representing a minuscule fraction of the world population.
Even among high-IQ individuals and skilled professionals like physicists, lawyers, and software engineers, the community represents less than 1% of the total.
The community should prioritize consulting outside experts, considering outside hires, and thoroughly checking existing literature before pursuing new ideas.
Insularity and reliance on in-group consensus can lead to blindspots and overconfidence in community-specific beliefs.
Claims made only within these small communities should be viewed skeptically, given the vastly larger pool of expertise outside them.
While small communities can still achieve impressive things, they should remain humble about their capabilities and actively engage with outside knowledge and expertise.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, andcontact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: The effective altruist and rationalist communities are very small compared to the global population, containing only a tiny fraction of smart and skilled people across various professions, which has important implications for how these communities should operate and view their capabilities.
Key points:
The EA/rationalist community likely has around 20,000 members globally, representing a minuscule fraction of the world population.
Even among high-IQ individuals and skilled professionals like physicists, lawyers, and software engineers, the community represents less than 1% of the total.
The community should prioritize consulting outside experts, considering outside hires, and thoroughly checking existing literature before pursuing new ideas.
Insularity and reliance on in-group consensus can lead to blindspots and overconfidence in community-specific beliefs.
Claims made only within these small communities should be viewed skeptically, given the vastly larger pool of expertise outside them.
While small communities can still achieve impressive things, they should remain humble about their capabilities and actively engage with outside knowledge and expertise.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.