You approvingly cite Jeff’s 50:50 recommendation, which would actually involve a huge ramping up of meta activities from today.
This is a fair criticism and something I did think a good deal about. However, my point was not to advise the world as a whole, but to advise the readers of the EA forum. My understanding is that the typical reader of the EA forum is a lot more predisposed to meta-orgs.
Remember that I have to say something that is true, insightful, and actionable. Even if it is true that meta-orgs are underfunded in the global community, there’s little insight or actionable advice there. Getting people to see potential pitfalls of meta-orgs that I see very little discussion about is more insightful and actionable for the readers here.
Ok, we get into a similar problem with earning to give. For new people, I want to encourage them to etg, but for people already heavily involved in the community, I want them to probably do it less.
If this is how you feel though, I think you could have been a lot clearer.
e.g. “I’m not sure if we need more or less meta, but here’s some arguments against meta that I don’t see raised often enough”
or “The EA movement as a whole probably needs more meta, but it seems like too many of the most involved EAs are focused on it”
This is a fair criticism and something I did think a good deal about. However, my point was not to advise the world as a whole, but to advise the readers of the EA forum. My understanding is that the typical reader of the EA forum is a lot more predisposed to meta-orgs.
Remember that I have to say something that is true, insightful, and actionable. Even if it is true that meta-orgs are underfunded in the global community, there’s little insight or actionable advice there. Getting people to see potential pitfalls of meta-orgs that I see very little discussion about is more insightful and actionable for the readers here.
Ok, we get into a similar problem with earning to give. For new people, I want to encourage them to etg, but for people already heavily involved in the community, I want them to probably do it less.
If this is how you feel though, I think you could have been a lot clearer.
e.g. “I’m not sure if we need more or less meta, but here’s some arguments against meta that I don’t see raised often enough”
or “The EA movement as a whole probably needs more meta, but it seems like too many of the most involved EAs are focused on it”