An interesting idea for sure. I see two major points that would have to be clarified/speak against it.
1. is the question what kind of claim can be made about who this letter speaks for. Procedures to ensure such a letter truly speaks for ‘the EA community’ would be tricky to devise i think. The first reason is that opinions on many issues are very diverse. Secondly, the community is not organized strictly enough to plausibly establish ‘representative voting’ or a similar mechanism
2. I see a clear danger of politization of the movement because many times the occasions for such open letters are current events or public policy. These occasion carry the risk of making the EA community appear to be a specific political camp which could negatively impact its appearance if independence/credibility.
An interesting idea for sure. I see two major points that would have to be clarified/speak against it.
1. is the question what kind of claim can be made about who this letter speaks for. Procedures to ensure such a letter truly speaks for ‘the EA community’ would be tricky to devise i think. The first reason is that opinions on many issues are very diverse. Secondly, the community is not organized strictly enough to plausibly establish ‘representative voting’ or a similar mechanism
2. I see a clear danger of politization of the movement because many times the occasions for such open letters are current events or public policy. These occasion carry the risk of making the EA community appear to be a specific political camp which could negatively impact its appearance if independence/credibility.