As you note, there are different ways to be cool. And I think the way in which EA is sometimes cool is when impressive people sympathetic to EA ideas do impactful things. Like, most of the general public probably wouldn’t say Ezra Klein is cool, but a lot of EAs (and potential EAs) probably would. I think EA’s path to greater coolness—to the extent we think this matters, which I’m not convinced it does—is probably via finding and supporting more smart, likable people who publicly buy into EA ideas while doing high-profile, impactful work.
As you note, there are different ways to be cool. And I think the way in which EA is sometimes cool is when impressive people sympathetic to EA ideas do impactful things. Like, most of the general public probably wouldn’t say Ezra Klein is cool, but a lot of EAs (and potential EAs) probably would. I think EA’s path to greater coolness—to the extent we think this matters, which I’m not convinced it does—is probably via finding and supporting more smart, likable people who publicly buy into EA ideas while doing high-profile, impactful work.