I’ve been reading outsider’s takes on EA on twitter for the past few days, and can’t help feeling that it’s mostly bad (faith) takes. Obviously, I know most people have suboptimal epistemic practices – but is it really this bad? I won’t even quote some of the takes here, but they must surely be made in bad faith.
I was quite worried of EA’s future since the FTX news broke, especially the reaction of the public – but for the past few days I’ve instead been strengthened in my conviction that EA is a force for good. No other community has the curiosity, moral virtue or insightful discussion that EA has.
While I am outraged at EA leadership for allowing this to happen, I am incredibly thankful for the EA community at this time. Last Thursday, I was unsure if EA would survive this. For now, I think it will.
I still object somewhat to being an “EA”. In worlds where EA’s epistemic rigour breaks down, I think lots of people identifying as an “EA” without thinking through what it entails is a prevalent cause. I do reckon that for some, EA might give life meaning – but don’t make it the core of your identity. First and foremost, you are a human wanting to do good. EA as a research field can help you find answers, and EA as a community can help you find friends and social motivation.
Yeah, I don’t know how much future there can be for capital E-ffective Altruism, or “effective altruist” as a self-identified label. Whereas there obviously is a future for trying to solve the problems that EAs have worked on, and for many of the organisations that have worked on these problems. The question for me is where one draws the line in-between.
I’ve been reading outsider’s takes on EA on twitter for the past few days, and can’t help feeling that it’s mostly bad (faith) takes. Obviously, I know most people have suboptimal epistemic practices – but is it really this bad? I won’t even quote some of the takes here, but they must surely be made in bad faith.
I was quite worried of EA’s future since the FTX news broke, especially the reaction of the public – but for the past few days I’ve instead been strengthened in my conviction that EA is a force for good. No other community has the curiosity, moral virtue or insightful discussion that EA has.
While I am outraged at EA leadership for allowing this to happen, I am incredibly thankful for the EA community at this time. Last Thursday, I was unsure if EA would survive this. For now, I think it will.
I still object somewhat to being an “EA”. In worlds where EA’s epistemic rigour breaks down, I think lots of people identifying as an “EA” without thinking through what it entails is a prevalent cause. I do reckon that for some, EA might give life meaning – but don’t make it the core of your identity. First and foremost, you are a human wanting to do good. EA as a research field can help you find answers, and EA as a community can help you find friends and social motivation.
Yeah, I don’t know how much future there can be for capital E-ffective Altruism, or “effective altruist” as a self-identified label. Whereas there obviously is a future for trying to solve the problems that EAs have worked on, and for many of the organisations that have worked on these problems. The question for me is where one draws the line in-between.