I think that this is a far too binary way of representing EA.
EA has been a “big tent” and a complex ecosystem for a long time – and that is good!
However, I am disappointed with it being framed as a shift, or as a binary, or with any particular feature of a part of EA being seen “as EA”.
“EA” isn’t talent constrained, but many causes and projects within EA are (so that on net the community is talent constrained).
“EA” isn’t flush with talent, but many roles within EA can be very competitive (so that on net it’d often be worth applying for any suitable role, but also most people won’t get roles after applying for a while).
“EA” isn’t funding constrained, but many causes and projects within EA are (so that on net the community is funding constrained).
“EA” isn’t flush with cash, but some projects have easier access to funding than they used to (e.g. GiveWell’s research team, top AI safety researchers, some new high-EV projects within longtermism who have strong founding teams and a solid idea).
“EA” isn’t longtermist, but many people, causes and projects within EA are (so that longtermism makes up a ~plurality of job opportunities, a ~plurality of new projects, and a significant segment of funding).
“EA” isn’t neartermist, but many people, causes and projects within EA are (so that neartermism makes up a ~majority of current funding, ~majority of broad base EAs & individual donors to EA causes).
“EA” isn’t vegan, but many people, causes and projects within EA take animal lives into serious consideration (such that a norm within EA has been to default to catering vegan).
“EA” isn’t political, but many people, causes and projects take the impact of politics seriously (such that most people consider their politics as a meaningful consideration for their impact on the world).
Et cetera…
The balance and distributions of these features moves within the community over time, but “EA” is the project of trying to figure out how to do more good and to act on what we find.
What’s your evidence for EA being big tent? Has there been a survey done of new EA members and their perception? Focus groups? Other qualitative research? Curious for the basis of your claims. Thanks much!
To my eyes, you and the post-writer don’t really disagree but prefer different levels of descriptive precision. So instead of saying ‘EA is X’, you would prefer saying ‘many people in EA are X’. After the precise sharpening, this seems to capture pretty much still the same idea and sentiment about where EA is going as highlighted in the post.
And to respond to the post by saying ‘this is not precise enough’ rather than ‘this is the wrong trend’ seems to miss the point here. Of course, using tables and simple before-afters is not a format for precise descriptions. However, the author still uses it, perhaps not out of carelessness but because this format is good for highlighting trends in an easily understandable way. To my eyes, the post is supposed to highlight overall trends rather than a precise description of the community. Semantic precision is always prudent, but the main gist of the idea highlighted in the post seems to remain after semantic sharpening.
So if the response here is essentially ‘yes people in EA are moving to the direction DMMF says it is, but just don’t say EA is’, I’d say the post still basically stands.
I think that this is a far too binary way of representing EA.
EA has been a “big tent” and a complex ecosystem for a long time – and that is good!
However, I am disappointed with it being framed as a shift, or as a binary, or with any particular feature of a part of EA being seen “as EA”.
“EA” isn’t talent constrained, but many causes and projects within EA are (so that on net the community is talent constrained).
“EA” isn’t flush with talent, but many roles within EA can be very competitive (so that on net it’d often be worth applying for any suitable role, but also most people won’t get roles after applying for a while).
“EA” isn’t funding constrained, but many causes and projects within EA are (so that on net the community is funding constrained).
“EA” isn’t flush with cash, but some projects have easier access to funding than they used to (e.g. GiveWell’s research team, top AI safety researchers, some new high-EV projects within longtermism who have strong founding teams and a solid idea).
“EA” isn’t longtermist, but many people, causes and projects within EA are (so that longtermism makes up a ~plurality of job opportunities, a ~plurality of new projects, and a significant segment of funding).
“EA” isn’t neartermist, but many people, causes and projects within EA are (so that neartermism makes up a ~majority of current funding, ~majority of broad base EAs & individual donors to EA causes).
“EA” isn’t vegan, but many people, causes and projects within EA take animal lives into serious consideration (such that a norm within EA has been to default to catering vegan).
“EA” isn’t political, but many people, causes and projects take the impact of politics seriously (such that most people consider their politics as a meaningful consideration for their impact on the world).
Et cetera…
The balance and distributions of these features moves within the community over time, but “EA” is the project of trying to figure out how to do more good and to act on what we find.
What’s your evidence for EA being big tent? Has there been a survey done of new EA members and their perception? Focus groups? Other qualitative research? Curious for the basis of your claims. Thanks much!
Almost everything you can imagine (other than organisations who’ve a very specific focus):
Any given day top posts on the EA Forum range across various worldviews and cause areas
Any given day the amount of funding going through GWWC ranges across various worldviews and cause areas
Answers to cause priorities on the EA Survey
A quick straw poll of any broad EA event
Topics covered in EA groups and fellowships
The contrary is much harder to prove.
To my eyes, you and the post-writer don’t really disagree but prefer different levels of descriptive precision. So instead of saying ‘EA is X’, you would prefer saying ‘many people in EA are X’. After the precise sharpening, this seems to capture pretty much still the same idea and sentiment about where EA is going as highlighted in the post.
And to respond to the post by saying ‘this is not precise enough’ rather than ‘this is the wrong trend’ seems to miss the point here. Of course, using tables and simple before-afters is not a format for precise descriptions. However, the author still uses it, perhaps not out of carelessness but because this format is good for highlighting trends in an easily understandable way. To my eyes, the post is supposed to highlight overall trends rather than a precise description of the community. Semantic precision is always prudent, but the main gist of the idea highlighted in the post seems to remain after semantic sharpening.
So if the response here is essentially ‘yes people in EA are moving to the direction DMMF says it is, but just don’t say EA is’, I’d say the post still basically stands.
Largely yes. That’s why I said I’m disappointed with this framing (not just in this post but in other contexts where this is happening).