I would encourage people to think about this. I think the Thiel fellowship is genius - to motivated, self-driven people, university is almost solely for signalling, because they would learn a greater amount of more important knowledge more efficiently without it. A large prestigious scholarship, especially with the requirement to drop out of university, easily provides the same signalling. Since there are no fees involved, it is also much cheaper to offer (although a big dollar value is a good idea for signalling, so don’t make it too small!), and can maybe be given to more people, who can work without being constrained by the university system. People should of course be selected based on demonstrated ability to work on self-driven projects.
You mean people drop out of university to do EA-aligned work or skill-building? I don’t see how that is necessary or something we’d want to particularly encourage, though I’d like to hear OpenPhil’s thoughts.
Yes, or to find alternatives to university, directly working on projects, internships, self-learning and writing. Perhaps small clusters of very motivated and talented people working with experienced professionals.
If a ‘credential’ is necessary along the I thought we might align ourselves with a flexible community college.
I wonder if Open Phil would consider something analogous to the Thiel fellowship—maybe they already have something like this?
I would encourage people to think about this. I think the Thiel fellowship is genius - to motivated, self-driven people, university is almost solely for signalling, because they would learn a greater amount of more important knowledge more efficiently without it. A large prestigious scholarship, especially with the requirement to drop out of university, easily provides the same signalling. Since there are no fees involved, it is also much cheaper to offer (although a big dollar value is a good idea for signalling, so don’t make it too small!), and can maybe be given to more people, who can work without being constrained by the university system. People should of course be selected based on demonstrated ability to work on self-driven projects.
You mean people drop out of university to do EA-aligned work or skill-building? I don’t see how that is necessary or something we’d want to particularly encourage, though I’d like to hear OpenPhil’s thoughts.
Yes, or to find alternatives to university, directly working on projects, internships, self-learning and writing. Perhaps small clusters of very motivated and talented people working with experienced professionals.
If a ‘credential’ is necessary along the I thought we might align ourselves with a flexible community college.