Riffing out loud … I feel that there are different dynamics going on here (not necessarily in your case; more in general):
The tensions where people don’t act with as much integrity as is signalled
This is not a new issue for EA (it arises structurally despite a lot of good intentions, because of the encouragement to be strategic), and I think it just needs active cultural resistance
In terms of writing, I like Holden’s and Toby’s pushes on this; my own attempts here and here
But for this to go well, I think it’s not enough to have some essays on reading lists; instead I hope that people try to practice good orientation here at lots of different scales, and socially encourage others to
The meta-blinding
I feel like I haven’t read much on this, but it rings true as a dynamic to be wary of! Where I take the heart of the issue to be that EA presents a strong frame about what “good” means, and then encourages people to engage in ways that make aspects of their thinking subservient to that frame
As someone put it to me, “EA has lost the mandate of heaven”
I think EA used to be (in some circles) the obvious default place for the thoughtful people who cared a lot to gather and collaborate
I think that some good fraction of its value came from performing this role?
Partially as a result of 1 and 2, people are disassociating with EA; and this further reduces the pull to associate
I can’t speak to how strong this effect is overall, but I think the directionality is clear
I don’t know if it’s accessible (and I don’t think I’m well positioned to try), but I still feel a lot of love for the core of EA, and would be excited if people could navigate it to a place where it regained the mandate of heaven.
I appreciated you expressing this.
Riffing out loud … I feel that there are different dynamics going on here (not necessarily in your case; more in general):
The tensions where people don’t act with as much integrity as is signalled
This is not a new issue for EA (it arises structurally despite a lot of good intentions, because of the encouragement to be strategic), and I think it just needs active cultural resistance
In terms of writing, I like Holden’s and Toby’s pushes on this; my own attempts here and here
But for this to go well, I think it’s not enough to have some essays on reading lists; instead I hope that people try to practice good orientation here at lots of different scales, and socially encourage others to
The meta-blinding
I feel like I haven’t read much on this, but it rings true as a dynamic to be wary of! Where I take the heart of the issue to be that EA presents a strong frame about what “good” means, and then encourages people to engage in ways that make aspects of their thinking subservient to that frame
As someone put it to me, “EA has lost the mandate of heaven”
I think EA used to be (in some circles) the obvious default place for the thoughtful people who cared a lot to gather and collaborate
I think that some good fraction of its value came from performing this role?
Partially as a result of 1 and 2, people are disassociating with EA; and this further reduces the pull to associate
I can’t speak to how strong this effect is overall, but I think the directionality is clear
I don’t know if it’s accessible (and I don’t think I’m well positioned to try), but I still feel a lot of love for the core of EA, and would be excited if people could navigate it to a place where it regained the mandate of heaven.