EA’s are focused a lot on learning, but are doing this inefficiently: they study alone, without a syllabus, often without peers, and without getting feedback and evaluation on their learning outcomes.
Solution:
There are many e-learning tools, much more than just MOOC videos, that can be used, although I’m not familiar with them. A learning community could be created within an existing e-learning platform.
People in EA are smart; a lot of value can be gained by facilitating people help each other through carefully designed learning programs. Q&A’s with EA researchers whose work is on the syllabus could be arranged to minimize time needed for teaching. The e-learning course/community could also create structure and accountability to get things done, as well as assist students in signalling their EA-relevant knowledge and skills. For example, they could show they passed a course on ‘creating good Fermi estimates’.
I know there was one Discord group for rationalists learning math that seemed pretty useful.
Separately, there’s been a decent amount of work on AI specifically. I was personally matched with a few other people near me to learn about ML, and we did have several sessions, which was pretty nice.
I’d encourage more experiments here. One common thread (you’ll likely see in several responses) is that I’d encourage you to think small at first, as in an MVP. Maybe some early versions would look like Slack/Discord groups for one specific niche.
If you (anyone reading this) are interested, I recommend applying to the EA Funds or similar. I imagine some interventions here may be quite cheap, but useful. I’d be happy to review your application or discuss if you do.
I’d encourage more experiments here. One common thread (you’ll likely see in several responses) is that I’d encourage you to think small at first, as in an MVP. Maybe some early versions would look like Slack/Discord groups for one specific niche.
I totally agree with this sentiment. And I might do an experiment myself in the future :) I don’t think funding is necessary for any of these experiments though.
What I like about their eventually being a platform/community to learn about EA-relevant stuff is:
It provides a Schelling point, which helps people find learning partners easier, which makes it more likely for learning groups to get started
It is scalable
It introduces people to knowledge that might be useful that they would not have found on their own
It makes it easier for less-connected people to get engaged
It provides more tools and offers some best practices, making it easy for groups to get more value out of the experience
It lowers the barrier to get started and could serve as a clear next step to become more engaged in EA
EA e-learning community:
Problem:
EA’s are focused a lot on learning, but are doing this inefficiently: they study alone, without a syllabus, often without peers, and without getting feedback and evaluation on their learning outcomes.
Solution:
There are many e-learning tools, much more than just MOOC videos, that can be used, although I’m not familiar with them. A learning community could be created within an existing e-learning platform.
People in EA are smart; a lot of value can be gained by facilitating people help each other through carefully designed learning programs. Q&A’s with EA researchers whose work is on the syllabus could be arranged to minimize time needed for teaching. The e-learning course/community could also create structure and accountability to get things done, as well as assist students in signalling their EA-relevant knowledge and skills. For example, they could show they passed a course on ‘creating good Fermi estimates’.
I know there was one Discord group for rationalists learning math that seemed pretty useful.
Separately, there’s been a decent amount of work on AI specifically. I was personally matched with a few other people near me to learn about ML, and we did have several sessions, which was pretty nice.
I’d encourage more experiments here. One common thread (you’ll likely see in several responses) is that I’d encourage you to think small at first, as in an MVP. Maybe some early versions would look like Slack/Discord groups for one specific niche.
If you (anyone reading this) are interested, I recommend applying to the EA Funds or similar. I imagine some interventions here may be quite cheap, but useful. I’d be happy to review your application or discuss if you do.
I totally agree with this sentiment. And I might do an experiment myself in the future :) I don’t think funding is necessary for any of these experiments though.
What I like about their eventually being a platform/community to learn about EA-relevant stuff is:
It provides a Schelling point, which helps people find learning partners easier, which makes it more likely for learning groups to get started
It is scalable
It introduces people to knowledge that might be useful that they would not have found on their own
It makes it easier for less-connected people to get engaged
It provides more tools and offers some best practices, making it easy for groups to get more value out of the experience
It lowers the barrier to get started and could serve as a clear next step to become more engaged in EA