Thanks for the CEA link. I had read and reacted to that comment from Zach, but I was looking to understand the broader concept that sounded like it might be a pre existing term in the discourse
This is a good question. It is a pre-existing term (for example the EAIF uses it here) but I’m having difficulty finding a canonical definition.
The definition they use in that post is “focusing on this odd community of people who are willing to impartially improve the world as much as possible, without presupposing specific empirical beliefs about the world (like AGI timelines or shrimp sentience)” which seems close but not exactly the same as my definition. Maybe @Zachary Robinson can include a definition of the term in his forthcoming post.
Just wanted to quickly clarify that the entire wording of the EAIF “definition” was written by me, where I put in the level of care that I typically would for a phrase in an organizational blogpost: significant, but far from the level of precision that an important movement-wide phrase ought to have. I also meant more to gesture at the set of ideas that “Principles-Based EA” roughly points at, rather than to define them.
All this to say that I’d be glad if Zachary or others can come up with their own versions, and I’d mortified if something like my “definition” becomes canonical.
Thanks for the CEA link. I had read and reacted to that comment from Zach, but I was looking to understand the broader concept that sounded like it might be a pre existing term in the discourse
This is a good question. It is a pre-existing term (for example the EAIF uses it here) but I’m having difficulty finding a canonical definition.
The definition they use in that post is “focusing on this odd community of people who are willing to impartially improve the world as much as possible, without presupposing specific empirical beliefs about the world (like AGI timelines or shrimp sentience)” which seems close but not exactly the same as my definition. Maybe @Zachary Robinson can include a definition of the term in his forthcoming post.
Just wanted to quickly clarify that the entire wording of the EAIF “definition” was written by me, where I put in the level of care that I typically would for a phrase in an organizational blogpost: significant, but far from the level of precision that an important movement-wide phrase ought to have. I also meant more to gesture at the set of ideas that “Principles-Based EA” roughly points at, rather than to define them.
All this to say that I’d be glad if Zachary or others can come up with their own versions, and I’d mortified if something like my “definition” becomes canonical.