You got a lot of flak this post, and I think many of the dissenting comments were good (I strongly upvoted the top one). I also think some specific points could be better argued, and it’d be quite valuable to have a deeper understanding of the downside risks and where the bottom-line advice is not applicable.
Nonetheless, I think I should mention publicly that I broadly agree with this post. I think the post advances a largely correct bottom-line conclusion, and for the right reasons. I think many EAs in positions to do so, for example undergrads/grad students over the summer, people with remote jobs, and people who can afford to take a break in between jobs, should seriously consider spending time in EA hubs.* I further think that many of the main reasons to do so are covered in this post, so this post is broadly right for the right reasons.
(If you read the dissenting comments carefully, none of them really contradicts this message. However I’m worried that the “vibe” of those comments will end up dissuading many EAs from seriously considering this in their option set).
* As far as I understand it, the SF Bay Area (Berkeley specifically) is the best hub for some important EA subfields, most notably AI alignment work and longtermist community building.
I was going to comment pretty much exactly the same thing, thanks for doing the hard work for me :)
I think part of what is missing here for me is a bit of the context before hand
who is saying come to the bay? it seems like this message is shared in specific circles
what factors fell into place for you to have a positive experience, where others may not have, e.g. the kinds of thing Chana points out, and Joseph Lemien’s comment
(this one is unfair, since it’s a bit out of scope for the post) how one might actually go about going to the bay. I think it’s pretty fuzzy and unclear how to navigate that space unless you already know the relevant people
You got a lot of flak this post, and I think many of the dissenting comments were good (I strongly upvoted the top one). I also think some specific points could be better argued, and it’d be quite valuable to have a deeper understanding of the downside risks and where the bottom-line advice is not applicable.
Nonetheless, I think I should mention publicly that I broadly agree with this post. I think the post advances a largely correct bottom-line conclusion, and for the right reasons. I think many EAs in positions to do so, for example undergrads/grad students over the summer, people with remote jobs, and people who can afford to take a break in between jobs, should seriously consider spending time in EA hubs.* I further think that many of the main reasons to do so are covered in this post, so this post is broadly right for the right reasons.
(If you read the dissenting comments carefully, none of them really contradicts this message. However I’m worried that the “vibe” of those comments will end up dissuading many EAs from seriously considering this in their option set).
* As far as I understand it, the SF Bay Area (Berkeley specifically) is the best hub for some important EA subfields, most notably AI alignment work and longtermist community building.
I was going to comment pretty much exactly the same thing, thanks for doing the hard work for me :)
I think part of what is missing here for me is a bit of the context before hand
who is saying come to the bay? it seems like this message is shared in specific circles
what factors fell into place for you to have a positive experience, where others may not have, e.g. the kinds of thing Chana points out, and Joseph Lemien’s comment
(this one is unfair, since it’s a bit out of scope for the post) how one might actually go about going to the bay. I think it’s pretty fuzzy and unclear how to navigate that space unless you already know the relevant people