I’m more optimistic that people who showed up because they wanted to do the most good still believe in it. Even time spent with “EA-adjacent-adjacent-etc.” people is refreshing compared to most of my work in policy, including on behalf of EA organizations.
Community groups, EAGs, and other events still create the space for first principles discussions that you’re talking about. As far as I know, those spaces are growing. Even if they weren’t, I can’t remember a GCR-focused event that served non-vegan food, including those without formal EA affiliations. It’s a small gesture, but I think it’s relevant to some of the points made in this post.
I understand picking on BlueDot because they started as free courses designed for EAs who wanted to learn more about specific cause areas (AI safety, biosecurity, and alternative proteins, if I remember correctly). They are now much larger, focused exclusively on AI, and have a target audience that goes beyond EA and may not know much about GCRs coming into the course. The tradeoffs they make for the increased net is between them and their funders, and does not necessarily speak to the values of the people running the course.
I’m more optimistic that people who showed up because they wanted to do the most good still believe in it. Even time spent with “EA-adjacent-adjacent-etc.” people is refreshing compared to most of my work in policy, including on behalf of EA organizations.
Community groups, EAGs, and other events still create the space for first principles discussions that you’re talking about. As far as I know, those spaces are growing. Even if they weren’t, I can’t remember a GCR-focused event that served non-vegan food, including those without formal EA affiliations. It’s a small gesture, but I think it’s relevant to some of the points made in this post.
I understand picking on BlueDot because they started as free courses designed for EAs who wanted to learn more about specific cause areas (AI safety, biosecurity, and alternative proteins, if I remember correctly). They are now much larger, focused exclusively on AI, and have a target audience that goes beyond EA and may not know much about GCRs coming into the course. The tradeoffs they make for the increased net is between them and their funders, and does not necessarily speak to the values of the people running the course.