I have written several posts that I didn’t submit for a combination of reasons. Reason #3 below is deeply troubling and is the thing that I most want to see changed about EA in general. I wrote 1500 words yesterday about it, and decided not to post it because of reason #2 and reason #3 itself. Since this post asks for feedback, it seems like an OK place to copy-paste it, er, write a completely new essay on the same topic.
1. Perfectionism
This is the most common and at the same time the least tractable. It’s not that I don’t feel the drafts meet the EA Forum standards, rather the drafts don’t meet my standards.
2. Negativity
Like Scott A. wrote about on ACX, EA self-critiques are almost a fetish. I deeply appreciate our culture of being open to criticism, and I wouldn’t want to change that. However, my subconscious is always looking for more reasons to be disappointed with myself, and I don’t want to add to the negativity for others, especially when I’m piling onto things that others have said already.
3. Ongoing Exclusivity of EA
Like me, many people feel like EA outsiders—even those of us who identify deeply and passionately with EA. (To me, the forum itself is not exclusive; everyone on the forum is very kind, welcoming, and encouraging.)
If we can’t absorb more people due to lack of funding, that’d be one thing. However, since at least 2015, 80K (and others) have talked about a “funding overhang” and a “talent gap,” and no matter how many asterisks or replacement terms we come up with, the implication is still the same. I’ll let this 2019 writer describe what he hears EA saying:
“We are so talent constraint… (20 applications later) … Yeah, when we said that we need people, we meant capable people. Not you. You suck.”
Why exactly does that prevent me from posting more on the forum? First, this is the problem I want to write about, and I can only rephrase things that others have written eloquently about for years. Second, because the inferential difference feels insurmountable even when we talk about solutions.
For example, when I read the title, “EA needs consultancies,” I think, “that’s exactly what I was thinking!” only to read the post and find that Luke’s talking about “McKinsey-style consultancies.” So, Ivy League folks? To be fair to Luke, he didn’t say that “analytically strong people” excludes the average engineer or software developer;[1] I’m getting that impression elsewhere. Like I said in a comment on Constance’s post about EAG rejection, if a literal doctor doesn’t make the cut, what hope do the rest of us have?
4. Not Ambitious Enough
Maybe the real reason I don’t post is that I need to “be more ambitious.” Sorry, this is a cheap jab, but that narrative really kills me. Is there any other group on the planet with loftier goals than us? Is there a community that’s trying to save the extra-super-duper long-term future?[2] I mean, I beat myself up for not being as rich as SBF, but if there’s a reason I should feel worse about myself, please, do tell!
Some people interpret EA as meaning, high impact. To me, EA is for anyone who wants to have higher at the margin—no matter who you are.
Again, I’m SO SORRY about the negative tone of this whole comment, but I worry that the level of irony from not posting it could initiate vacuum collapse. Hopefully you all know that I still love you, even though I’m a bit cranky about my unemployment these days.
I have written several posts that I didn’t submit for a combination of reasons. Reason #3 below is deeply troubling and is the thing that I most want to see changed about EA in general. I wrote 1500 words yesterday about it, and decided not to post it because of reason #2 and reason #3 itself. Since this post asks for feedback, it seems like an OK place to
copy-paste it, er, write a completely new essay on the same topic.1. Perfectionism
This is the most common and at the same time the least tractable. It’s not that I don’t feel the drafts meet the EA Forum standards, rather the drafts don’t meet my standards.
2. Negativity
Like Scott A. wrote about on ACX, EA self-critiques are almost a fetish. I deeply appreciate our culture of being open to criticism, and I wouldn’t want to change that. However, my subconscious is always looking for more reasons to be disappointed with myself, and I don’t want to add to the negativity for others, especially when I’m piling onto things that others have said already.
3. Ongoing Exclusivity of EA
Like me, many people feel like EA outsiders—even those of us who identify deeply and passionately with EA. (To me, the forum itself is not exclusive; everyone on the forum is very kind, welcoming, and encouraging.)
If we can’t absorb more people due to lack of funding, that’d be one thing. However, since at least 2015, 80K (and others) have talked about a “funding overhang” and a “talent gap,” and no matter how many asterisks or replacement terms we come up with, the implication is still the same. I’ll let this 2019 writer describe what he hears EA saying:
Why exactly does that prevent me from posting more on the forum? First, this is the problem I want to write about, and I can only rephrase things that others have written eloquently about for years. Second, because the inferential difference feels insurmountable even when we talk about solutions.
For example, when I read the title, “EA needs consultancies,” I think, “that’s exactly what I was thinking!” only to read the post and find that Luke’s talking about “McKinsey-style consultancies.” So, Ivy League folks? To be fair to Luke, he didn’t say that “analytically strong people” excludes the average engineer or software developer;[1] I’m getting that impression elsewhere. Like I said in a comment on Constance’s post about EAG rejection, if a literal doctor doesn’t make the cut, what hope do the rest of us have?
4. Not Ambitious Enough
Maybe the real reason I don’t post is that I need to “be more ambitious.” Sorry, this is a cheap jab, but that narrative really kills me. Is there any other group on the planet with loftier goals than us? Is there a community that’s trying to save the extra-super-duper long-term future?[2] I mean, I beat myself up for not being as rich as SBF, but if there’s a reason I should feel worse about myself, please, do tell!
Some people interpret EA as meaning, high impact. To me, EA is for anyone who wants to have higher at the margin—no matter who you are.
Again, I’m SO SORRY about the negative tone of this whole comment, but I worry that the level of irony from not posting it could initiate vacuum collapse. Hopefully you all know that I still love you, even though I’m a bit cranky about my unemployment these days.
which is already too high a bar IMO
Besides, if there was, most of us would be over there instead of here.