Both of these are generally thought to be good things, though personally I’d expect growing the movement would be easier than spreading EA-style thought (partially because the EA community is small, while the outside world is big, so it’s probably much easier to have a substantial relative impact in growing the community than in, for instance, getting the outside world to be more impact-aware, though there are other considerations). One caveat, though, is that rash attempts to grow the movement have the potential to be counterproductive.
Thank you very much for the welcome and for your thoughts!
That is a good point regarding the growth potential of the community itself, and certainly the quality of any growth would need to be a primary consideration.
My only counter-consideration to your point is that the bar to overcome is lower when convincing someone to adopt some aspect of EA-style methodology when compared to becoming a full EA community member. That being said, it certainly seems more concrete and easier to fathom how to grow the community, and less so for how to “spread EA style thinking”.
I think of GiveWell and 80,000 Hours as good examples of organizations that in their own way promote EA principles. Providing resources and tools for consumers seems to me a good way to increase reach, and perhaps there are areas that have not already been covered by existing EA-adjacent organizations.
Welcome to the community!
Both of these are generally thought to be good things, though personally I’d expect growing the movement would be easier than spreading EA-style thought (partially because the EA community is small, while the outside world is big, so it’s probably much easier to have a substantial relative impact in growing the community than in, for instance, getting the outside world to be more impact-aware, though there are other considerations). One caveat, though, is that rash attempts to grow the movement have the potential to be counterproductive.
Thank you very much for the welcome and for your thoughts!
That is a good point regarding the growth potential of the community itself, and certainly the quality of any growth would need to be a primary consideration.
My only counter-consideration to your point is that the bar to overcome is lower when convincing someone to adopt some aspect of EA-style methodology when compared to becoming a full EA community member. That being said, it certainly seems more concrete and easier to fathom how to grow the community, and less so for how to “spread EA style thinking”.
I think of GiveWell and 80,000 Hours as good examples of organizations that in their own way promote EA principles. Providing resources and tools for consumers seems to me a good way to increase reach, and perhaps there are areas that have not already been covered by existing EA-adjacent organizations.