I downvoted this post because it doesn’t present any evidence to back up its claims. Frankly I also foudn the tone off-putting (“vultures”? really?) and the structure confusing.
I also think it underestimates the extent to which the following things are noticeable to grant evaluators. I reckon they’ll usually be able to tell when applicants (1) don’t really understand or care about x-risks, (2) don’t really understand or care about EA, (3) are lying about what they’ll spend the money on, or (4) have a theory of change that doesn’t make sense. Of course grant applicants tailor their application to what they think the funder cares about. But it’s hard to fake it, especially when questioned.
Also, something like the Atlas Fellowship is not “easy money”. Applicants will be competing against extremely talented and impressive people from all over the world. I don’t think the “bar” for getting funding for EA projects has fallen as much as this post, and some of the comments on this post, seem to assume.
it doesn’t present any evidence to back up its claims
I appreciate this and it’s annoying, but I’m supposing OP didn’t think they could do this without revealing who they are, which they wanted to avoid.
I also think it underestimates the extent to which the following things are noticeable to grant evaluators
I agree that grant makers are probably aware of these things, but I would like them to demonstrate it and say how they plan to mitigate it. I note the Atlas Fellowship doesn’t talk about this is its FAQ (admittedly the FAQ seems aimed at applicants, not critics, but still).
I’m not sure how easy it is for grantmakers to tell sincere from insincere people - particularly at high-school level when there hasn’t been so much opportunity to engage in costly signalling.
I am genuinely worried about what effect it has on people’s epistemics if they even think that they will be rewarded for holding certain beliefs. You can imagine impressionable students not wanting to even raise doubts because they worry this might be held against them later.
Didn’t know how to say it originally, but yes, I did not want to reveal/out sources. It does make it so that the argument holds less punch (and you should be rightly skeptical) but on net I thought it would be enough without.
I downvoted this post because it doesn’t present any evidence to back up its claims. Frankly I also foudn the tone off-putting (“vultures”? really?) and the structure confusing.
I also think it underestimates the extent to which the following things are noticeable to grant evaluators. I reckon they’ll usually be able to tell when applicants (1) don’t really understand or care about x-risks, (2) don’t really understand or care about EA, (3) are lying about what they’ll spend the money on, or (4) have a theory of change that doesn’t make sense. Of course grant applicants tailor their application to what they think the funder cares about. But it’s hard to fake it, especially when questioned.
Also, something like the Atlas Fellowship is not “easy money”. Applicants will be competing against extremely talented and impressive people from all over the world. I don’t think the “bar” for getting funding for EA projects has fallen as much as this post, and some of the comments on this post, seem to assume.
I appreciate this and it’s annoying, but I’m supposing OP didn’t think they could do this without revealing who they are, which they wanted to avoid.
I agree that grant makers are probably aware of these things, but I would like them to demonstrate it and say how they plan to mitigate it. I note the Atlas Fellowship doesn’t talk about this is its FAQ (admittedly the FAQ seems aimed at applicants, not critics, but still).
I’m not sure how easy it is for grantmakers to tell sincere from insincere people - particularly at high-school level when there hasn’t been so much opportunity to engage in costly signalling.
I am genuinely worried about what effect it has on people’s epistemics if they even think that they will be rewarded for holding certain beliefs. You can imagine impressionable students not wanting to even raise doubts because they worry this might be held against them later.
Didn’t know how to say it originally, but yes, I did not want to reveal/out sources. It does make it so that the argument holds less punch (and you should be rightly skeptical) but on net I thought it would be enough without.