Yeah, I should’ve phrased (3) in a way that’s more likely to pass someone like habryka’s Ideological Turing Test.
Basically, I think if EAs were even just a little worse than typical people in positions of power (on the dimension of integrity), that would be awful news! We really want them to be significantly better.
I think EAs are markedly more likely to be fanatical naive consequentialists, which can be one form of “lacking in integrity” and is the main thing* I’d worry about in terms of me maybe being wrong. To combat that, you need to be above average in integrity on other dimensions.
*Ideology-induced fanaticism is my main concern, but I can think of other concerns as well. EA probably also attracts communal narcissists to some degree, or people who like the thought that they are special and can have lots of impact. Also, according to some studies, utilitarianism correlates with psychopathy at least in trolley problem examples. However, EA very much also (and more strongly?) attracts people who are unusually caring and compassionate. It also motivates people who don’t care about power to seek it, which is an effect with strong potential for making things better.
Yeah, I should’ve phrased (3) in a way that’s more likely to pass someone like habryka’s Ideological Turing Test.
Basically, I think if EAs were even just a little worse than typical people in positions of power (on the dimension of integrity), that would be awful news! We really want them to be significantly better.
I think EAs are markedly more likely to be fanatical naive consequentialists, which can be one form of “lacking in integrity” and is the main thing* I’d worry about in terms of me maybe being wrong. To combat that, you need to be above average in integrity on other dimensions.
*Ideology-induced fanaticism is my main concern, but I can think of other concerns as well. EA probably also attracts communal narcissists to some degree, or people who like the thought that they are special and can have lots of impact. Also, according to some studies, utilitarianism correlates with psychopathy at least in trolley problem examples. However, EA very much also (and more strongly?) attracts people who are unusually caring and compassionate. It also motivates people who don’t care about power to seek it, which is an effect with strong potential for making things better.