My system-1 concerns about EA: the community exhibits a certain amount of conformism, and a general unwillingness to explore new topics.
I think there’s some good reasoning behind this: the Pareto rule tells us that obvious things tend to be much more effective than convoluted strategies. However, this also leaves us more vulnerable to unknown unknowns.
The reason I think this is an issue is the general lack of really new proposals in EA discussion posts. I also think that there is a mysterious niche for an EA org dedicated to exploring new ideas, and I have no idea why the niche isn’t filled yet. The organization that seemed to me the most promising for dealing with unknown unknowns (CFAR, who are in a unique position to develop new thinking techniques to deal with this) has recently committed to AI risk in a way that compromises the talent they could have directed to innovative EA.
this feels really obvious from where I’m sitting but is met with incredulity by most EAs I speak with. Applause lights for new ideas paired with a total lack of engagement when anyone talks about new ideas seems more dangerous than I think we’re giving credit.
I have been observing the same thing. What could we do to spark new ideas? Perhaps a recurring thread dedicated to it on this forum or Facebook, or perhaps a new Facebook group? A Giving Game for unexplored topics? How can we encourage creativity?
Anonymous #1:
this feels really obvious from where I’m sitting but is met with incredulity by most EAs I speak with. Applause lights for new ideas paired with a total lack of engagement when anyone talks about new ideas seems more dangerous than I think we’re giving credit.
See recent pain control brief lee sharkey as example, or Auren Forrester’s stuff on suicide.
I have been observing the same thing. What could we do to spark new ideas? Perhaps a recurring thread dedicated to it on this forum or Facebook, or perhaps a new Facebook group? A Giving Game for unexplored topics? How can we encourage creativity?
Creativity is a learnable skill and also can be encouraged through conversational/group activity norms. http://malcolmocean.com/2016/05/honing-mode-vs-jamming-mode/ https://vimeo.com/89936101