I strongly agree with all this. Another downside I’ve felt from this exercise is it feels like I’ve been dragged into a community ritual I’m not really a fan of where my options are a) tacitly support (even if it is just deleting the email where I got the codes with a flicker of irritation) b) an ostentatious and disproportionate show of disapproval.
I generally think EA- and longtermist- land could benefit from more ‘professional distance’: that folks can contribute to these things without having to adopt an identity or community that steadily metastasises over the rest of their life—with at-best-murky EV to both themselves and the ‘cause’. I also think particular attempts at ritual often feel kitsch and prone to bathos: I imagine my feelings towards the ‘big red button’ at the top of the site might be similar to how many Christians react to some of their brethren ‘reenacting’ the crucifixion themselves.
But hey, I’m (thankfully) not the one carrying down the stone tablets of community norms from the point of view of the universe here—to each their own. Alas this restraint is not universal, as this is becoming a (capital C) Community ritual, where ‘success’ or ‘failure’ is taken to be important (at least by some) not only for those who do or don’t hit the button, but corporate praxis generally.
As someone who is already ambivalent, it rankles that my inaction will be taken as tacit support for some after-action pean to some sticky-back-plastic icon of ‘who we are as a Community’. Yet although ‘protesting’ by ‴″nuking‴″ [sic] ([sic]) LW has some benefit of a) probably won’t get opted in again and b) maybe make this less likely to be an ongoing ‘thing’, it has some downsides. I’m less worried about ‘losing rep’ (I have more than enough of both e-clout and ego to make counter-signalling an attractive proposition; ‴″nuking‴″ LW in a fit of ‘take this and shove it’ pique is pretty on-brand for me), but more that some people take this (very) seriously and would be sad if this self-imposed risk is realised. Even I disagree (and think this is borderline infantile), protesting in this way feels a bit like trying to refute a child’s belief their beloved toy is sapient by destroying it in front of them.
I guess we can all be thankful ‘writing asperous forum comments’ provides a means of de-escalation.
I generally think EA- and longtermist- land could benefit from more ‘professional distance’: that folks can contribute to these things without having to adopt an identity or community
I am curious: if you believe professional distance is a good thing for EA, then what is your explanation for EA not being a solved problem already? The existing networks of professionals had all the analytical knowledge required; save for the people who joined up straight out of college pretty much everyone currently working in EA was already in those networks.
There seems to be some premise missing in this argument.
To me, it seems that the question whether professional distance is good or not is mostly orthogonal to the question why EA isn’t a solved problem already.
I strongly agree with all this. Another downside I’ve felt from this exercise is it feels like I’ve been dragged into a community ritual I’m not really a fan of where my options are a) tacitly support (even if it is just deleting the email where I got the codes with a flicker of irritation) b) an ostentatious and disproportionate show of disapproval.
I generally think EA- and longtermist- land could benefit from more ‘professional distance’: that folks can contribute to these things without having to adopt an identity or community that steadily metastasises over the rest of their life—with at-best-murky EV to both themselves and the ‘cause’. I also think particular attempts at ritual often feel kitsch and prone to bathos: I imagine my feelings towards the ‘big red button’ at the top of the site might be similar to how many Christians react to some of their brethren ‘reenacting’ the crucifixion themselves.
But hey, I’m (thankfully) not the one carrying down the stone tablets of community norms from the point of view of the universe here—to each their own. Alas this restraint is not universal, as this is becoming a (capital C) Community ritual, where ‘success’ or ‘failure’ is taken to be important (at least by some) not only for those who do or don’t hit the button, but corporate praxis generally.
As someone who is already ambivalent, it rankles that my inaction will be taken as tacit support for some after-action pean to some sticky-back-plastic icon of ‘who we are as a Community’. Yet although ‘protesting’ by ‴″nuking‴″ [sic] ([sic]) LW has some benefit of a) probably won’t get opted in again and b) maybe make this less likely to be an ongoing ‘thing’, it has some downsides. I’m less worried about ‘losing rep’ (I have more than enough of both e-clout and ego to make counter-signalling an attractive proposition; ‴″nuking‴″ LW in a fit of ‘take this and shove it’ pique is pretty on-brand for me), but more that some people take this (very) seriously and would be sad if this self-imposed risk is realised. Even I disagree (and think this is borderline infantile), protesting in this way feels a bit like trying to refute a child’s belief their beloved toy is sapient by destroying it in front of them.
I guess we can all be thankful ‘writing asperous forum comments’ provides a means of de-escalation.
So to summarise, you seem not to be a fan of the ritual? :P
I’ve been accused of many things in my time, but inarticulate is a new one. ;)
You do use lots of big words
I am curious: if you believe professional distance is a good thing for EA, then what is your explanation for EA not being a solved problem already? The existing networks of professionals had all the analytical knowledge required; save for the people who joined up straight out of college pretty much everyone currently working in EA was already in those networks.
There seems to be some premise missing in this argument.
To me, it seems that the question whether professional distance is good or not is mostly orthogonal to the question why EA isn’t a solved problem already.