While I have been interested in EA since the beginning, I feel like a cultural outsider. One thing that struck me was what seems to be a clear mistake you haven’t acknowledged, which many might see as your most significant error: continuing to work with and trust someone who, according to your account, is a serious and long-term drug user.
I weakly agree that the EA social scene is too drug-y. (By which I mean: people doing psychedelics even though they have mental health issues that psychedelics might exacerbate, one person talking about having once done cocaine in casual conversation, plus I just suspect that psychedelics are bad for your epistemics and make you more likely to believe what I’d class as “new age-y bullshit”.)
But I still think talking about drug use on this way is a bit melodramatic. A large % of the population in Western countries are fairly to very regular users of alcohol. A significant minority of those people semi-regularly drink to excess. And alcohol is I think regarded by most public health people as having a worse risk profile than many illegal drugs, including weed and pretty much any psychedelic. But whilst “don’t hire a (non-recovered) alcoholic” is a common-sense rule, no one says “don’t hire long-term frequent alcohol users”.
The illegal drug trade inflicts an enormous amount of harm on the world and this should be taken into account when considering the social harm of drug use. Plus, it is a very bad look for charities to openly tolerate employees using illegal drugs.
While I have been interested in EA since the beginning, I feel like a cultural outsider. One thing that struck me was what seems to be a clear mistake you haven’t acknowledged, which many might see as your most significant error: continuing to work with and trust someone who, according to your account, is a serious and long-term drug user.
I weakly agree that the EA social scene is too drug-y. (By which I mean: people doing psychedelics even though they have mental health issues that psychedelics might exacerbate, one person talking about having once done cocaine in casual conversation, plus I just suspect that psychedelics are bad for your epistemics and make you more likely to believe what I’d class as “new age-y bullshit”.)
But I still think talking about drug use on this way is a bit melodramatic. A large % of the population in Western countries are fairly to very regular users of alcohol. A significant minority of those people semi-regularly drink to excess. And alcohol is I think regarded by most public health people as having a worse risk profile than many illegal drugs, including weed and pretty much any psychedelic. But whilst “don’t hire a (non-recovered) alcoholic” is a common-sense rule, no one says “don’t hire long-term frequent alcohol users”.
The illegal drug trade inflicts an enormous amount of harm on the world and this should be taken into account when considering the social harm of drug use. Plus, it is a very bad look for charities to openly tolerate employees using illegal drugs.