I intentionally avoided commenting on the OP’s broader claims as I’m squarely in the “Nobody’s going to solve the question of social justice here” camp (per @Aidan O’Gara). I only meant to comment on the narrow issue of EA London’s gender-related attendance dynamics, to try and defuse speculation by pointing people to relevant data that’s available. In retrospect, I probably should have just commented on the thread about women being less likely to return to EA London meetups instead of this one, but here we are.
I think the quotes from the surveys offer important insights, and that it’d be bizarre to try to understand how EA London’s events are perceived without them. I didn’t claim they offer a definitive explanation (just one that’s more informed than pure intuition), and I certainly didn’t argue we should start restricting discussions on lots of important topics.
Actually, one of my biggest takeaways from the survey quotes is that there’s low-hanging fruit available, opportunities to make EA more inclusive and better at seeking truth at the same time. The cost/benefit profile of (for example) an icebreaker at a retreat is extremely attractive. It makes people feel more welcome, it builds the sort of trust that makes it easier to have conversations on controversial topics, and it makes those conversations better by inviting a broader range of perspectives. Even if you hate icebreakers (like I do), based on the survey data they seem like a really good idea for EA retreats and similar events.
I apparently wasn’t clear enough that I absolutely agree and support things like icebreakers etc. But we shouldn’t either expect them to or judge their effectiveness based on how much it increases female representation. Absolutely do it and do it for everyone who will benefit but just don’t be surprised if even if we do that everywhere it doesn’t do much to affect gender balance in EA.
I think if we just do it because it makes ppl more comfortable without the gender overlay not only will it be more effective and more widely adopted but avoid the very real risk of creep (we are doing this to draw in more women but we haven’t seen a change so we need to adopt more extreme approaches). Let’s leave gender out of it when we can and in this case we absolutely can because being welcoming helps lots of ppl regardless of gender.
I intentionally avoided commenting on the OP’s broader claims as I’m squarely in the “Nobody’s going to solve the question of social justice here” camp (per @Aidan O’Gara). I only meant to comment on the narrow issue of EA London’s gender-related attendance dynamics, to try and defuse speculation by pointing people to relevant data that’s available. In retrospect, I probably should have just commented on the thread about women being less likely to return to EA London meetups instead of this one, but here we are.
I think the quotes from the surveys offer important insights, and that it’d be bizarre to try to understand how EA London’s events are perceived without them. I didn’t claim they offer a definitive explanation (just one that’s more informed than pure intuition), and I certainly didn’t argue we should start restricting discussions on lots of important topics.
Actually, one of my biggest takeaways from the survey quotes is that there’s low-hanging fruit available, opportunities to make EA more inclusive and better at seeking truth at the same time. The cost/benefit profile of (for example) an icebreaker at a retreat is extremely attractive. It makes people feel more welcome, it builds the sort of trust that makes it easier to have conversations on controversial topics, and it makes those conversations better by inviting a broader range of perspectives. Even if you hate icebreakers (like I do), based on the survey data they seem like a really good idea for EA retreats and similar events.
I apparently wasn’t clear enough that I absolutely agree and support things like icebreakers etc. But we shouldn’t either expect them to or judge their effectiveness based on how much it increases female representation. Absolutely do it and do it for everyone who will benefit but just don’t be surprised if even if we do that everywhere it doesn’t do much to affect gender balance in EA.
I think if we just do it because it makes ppl more comfortable without the gender overlay not only will it be more effective and more widely adopted but avoid the very real risk of creep (we are doing this to draw in more women but we haven’t seen a change so we need to adopt more extreme approaches). Let’s leave gender out of it when we can and in this case we absolutely can because being welcoming helps lots of ppl regardless of gender.