What makes the best solution the longtermists breaking off, instead of everyone else breaking off?
I more or less agrees with this post that (1) longtermism is dominant, (2) longtermism is a bad cause area, and (3) longtermism is bad for PR reasons. But I don’t think we can divorce EA from a cause area a majority of its members (and associated organizations!) find compelling. Even if we could, the PR damage that’s already been caused wouldn’t go away.
So it seems more realistic for exclusively near-termist EAs to try to carve out a separate space for ourselves. Obviously that’s a huge logistical task. I don’t really expect it to be successful. But I rate its chances of success higher than cutting longtermism out of EA.
For the record, if anyone is willing to coordinate a split of global poverty and animal rights EAs who wish to improve their optics, even at the expense of epistemics, from EA as a whole, I would gladly be willing to assist, despite not being in that group. Let me know if anyone wants help on this.
What makes the best solution the longtermists breaking off, instead of everyone else breaking off?
I more or less agrees with this post that (1) longtermism is dominant, (2) longtermism is a bad cause area, and (3) longtermism is bad for PR reasons. But I don’t think we can divorce EA from a cause area a majority of its members (and associated organizations!) find compelling. Even if we could, the PR damage that’s already been caused wouldn’t go away.
So it seems more realistic for exclusively near-termist EAs to try to carve out a separate space for ourselves. Obviously that’s a huge logistical task. I don’t really expect it to be successful. But I rate its chances of success higher than cutting longtermism out of EA.
For the record, if anyone is willing to coordinate a split of global poverty and animal rights EAs who wish to improve their optics, even at the expense of epistemics, from EA as a whole, I would gladly be willing to assist, despite not being in that group. Let me know if anyone wants help on this.