I would state that last paragraph even more strongly: my hypothesis is that the views about EA held by people who will never decide to get into EA will ultimately have a larger effect on how EA impacts the world (both in magnitude and in direction) than the views of people who are already a part of EA communities today.
General-public perception of a group pre-filters the types of people who engage with curiosity toward that group’s ideas, and I think that could be a strong enough force to make my prediction true on its own. I also think that general public reputation for a group can affect the types of opportunities that the group can access for acting upon their ideas, which might particularly shape the actual activities of a community that largely focuses on each person’s highest impact opportunities.
I would state that last paragraph even more strongly: my hypothesis is that the views about EA held by people who will never decide to get into EA will ultimately have a larger effect on how EA impacts the world (both in magnitude and in direction) than the views of people who are already a part of EA communities today.
General-public perception of a group pre-filters the types of people who engage with curiosity toward that group’s ideas, and I think that could be a strong enough force to make my prediction true on its own. I also think that general public reputation for a group can affect the types of opportunities that the group can access for acting upon their ideas, which might particularly shape the actual activities of a community that largely focuses on each person’s highest impact opportunities.