Looking back on leaving academia for EA-aligned research, here are two things I’m grateful for:
Being allowed to say why I believe something.
Being allowed to hold contradictory beliefs (i.e., think probabilistically).
In EA research, I can write: ‘Mortimer Snodgrass, last author on the Godchilla paper (Gopher et al., 2021), told me “[x, y, z]”.’
In academia, I had to find a previous paper to cite for any claim I made in my paper, even if I believed the claim because I heard it elsewhere. (Or, rather, I did the aforementioned for my supervisor’s papers—I used to be the research assistant who cherry picked citations off Google Scholar.)
In EA research, I can write, ‘I estimate that the model was produced in May 2021 (90% confidence interval: March–July 2021)’, or, ‘I’m about 70% confident in this claim’, and even, ‘This paper is more likely than not to contain an important error.’
In academia, I had to argue for a position, without conceding any ground. I had to be all-in on whatever I was claiming; I couldn’t give evidence and considerations for and against. (If I did raise a counterargument, it would be as setup for a counter-counterargument.)
That’s it. No further point to be made. I’m just grateful for my epistemic freedom nowadays.
Looking back on leaving academia for EA-aligned research, here are two things I’m grateful for:
Being allowed to say why I believe something.
Being allowed to hold contradictory beliefs (i.e., think probabilistically).
In EA research, I can write: ‘Mortimer Snodgrass, last author on the Godchilla paper (Gopher et al., 2021), told me “[x, y, z]”.’
In academia, I had to find a previous paper to cite for any claim I made in my paper, even if I believed the claim because I heard it elsewhere. (Or, rather, I did the aforementioned for my supervisor’s papers—I used to be the research assistant who cherry picked citations off Google Scholar.)
In EA research, I can write, ‘I estimate that the model was produced in May 2021 (90% confidence interval: March–July 2021)’, or, ‘I’m about 70% confident in this claim’, and even, ‘This paper is more likely than not to contain an important error.’
In academia, I had to argue for a position, without conceding any ground. I had to be all-in on whatever I was claiming; I couldn’t give evidence and considerations for and against. (If I did raise a counterargument, it would be as setup for a counter-counterargument.)
That’s it. No further point to be made. I’m just grateful for my epistemic freedom nowadays.