I want to explain why I downvoted this post, despite thinking this work is important, and hoping you and others continue to conduct digital minds research.
I take your goals to be creating a community of DM researchers, establishing a DM research agenda, and positioning the Sentience Institute as a key player in this arena. Because this work is so important, I think it is misguided for you (and the Sentience Institute, so long as you continue to hold a senior position there) to play a central role in building this field. I think this because my understanding is that CEA banned you from certain CEA-supported events and spaces for sexually harassing multiple women in the animal advocacy community; before this, you were expelled from Brown for sexual misconduct.
More than four years after the fact, it remains unclear what the nature of these events was. This is part of the problem: given the severity of CEA’s response, it seems extremely unlikely that your apology was accurate or adequate. Although people learn and grow from their mistakes—and I sincerely hope you have—your failure to meaningfully take accountability makes it hard to trust that you have learned the necessary lessons and modified your behavior accordingly. Given this, the recent TIME article, and important, ongoing conversations within EA about sexual harassment, I think your being centrally involved in building the DM research community may well undermine its growth and success.
I want to explain why I downvoted this post, despite thinking this work is important, and hoping you and others continue to conduct digital minds research.
I take your goals to be creating a community of DM researchers, establishing a DM research agenda, and positioning the Sentience Institute as a key player in this arena. Because this work is so important, I think it is misguided for you (and the Sentience Institute, so long as you continue to hold a senior position there) to play a central role in building this field. I think this because my understanding is that CEA banned you from certain CEA-supported events and spaces for sexually harassing multiple women in the animal advocacy community; before this, you were expelled from Brown for sexual misconduct.
More than four years after the fact, it remains unclear what the nature of these events was. This is part of the problem: given the severity of CEA’s response, it seems extremely unlikely that your apology was accurate or adequate. Although people learn and grow from their mistakes—and I sincerely hope you have—your failure to meaningfully take accountability makes it hard to trust that you have learned the necessary lessons and modified your behavior accordingly. Given this, the recent TIME article, and important, ongoing conversations within EA about sexual harassment, I think your being centrally involved in building the DM research community may well undermine its growth and success.