Yeah, “objective” wasn’t a great word choice there. I went back and forth between “objective”, “object”, and “object-level”, and probably made the wrong call. I agree there is an objective answer to “what percentage of people think positively of malaria nets?” but view it as importantly different than “what is the impact of nets on the spread of malaria?”
I agree the right amount of social meta-investigation is >0. I’m currently uncomfortable with the amount EA thinks about itself and its presentation; but even if that’s true, professionalizing the investigation may be an improvement. My qualms here don’t rise to the level where I would voice them in the normal course of events, but they seemed important to state when I was otherwise pretty explicitly endorsing the potential posts.
I can say a little more on what in particular made me uncomfortable. I wouldn’t be writing these if you hadn’t asked and if I hadn’t just called for money for the project of writing them up, and if I was I’d be aiming for a much higher quality bar. I view saying these at this quality level as a little risky, but worth it because this conversation feels really productive and I do think these concerns about EA overall are important, even though I don’t think they’re your fault in particular:
several of these questions feel like they don’t cut reality at the joints, and would render important facets invisible. These were quick summaries so it’s not fair to judge them, but I feel this way about a lot of EA survey work where I do have details.
several of your questions revolve around growth; I think EA’s emphasis on growth has been toxic and needs a complete overhaul before EA is allowed to gather data again.
I especially think CEA’s emphasis on Highly Engaged people is a warped frame that causes a lot of invisible damage. My reasoning is pretty similar to Theo’s here.
I don’t believe EA knows what to do with the people it recruits, and should stop worrying about recruiting until that problem is resolved.
Asking “do people introduced to EA younger stick around longer?” has an implicit frame that longer is better, and is missing follow-ups like “is it good for them? what’s the counterfactual for the world?”
Yeah, “objective” wasn’t a great word choice there. I went back and forth between “objective”, “object”, and “object-level”, and probably made the wrong call. I agree there is an objective answer to “what percentage of people think positively of malaria nets?” but view it as importantly different than “what is the impact of nets on the spread of malaria?”
I agree the right amount of social meta-investigation is >0. I’m currently uncomfortable with the amount EA thinks about itself and its presentation; but even if that’s true, professionalizing the investigation may be an improvement. My qualms here don’t rise to the level where I would voice them in the normal course of events, but they seemed important to state when I was otherwise pretty explicitly endorsing the potential posts.
I can say a little more on what in particular made me uncomfortable. I wouldn’t be writing these if you hadn’t asked and if I hadn’t just called for money for the project of writing them up, and if I was I’d be aiming for a much higher quality bar. I view saying these at this quality level as a little risky, but worth it because this conversation feels really productive and I do think these concerns about EA overall are important, even though I don’t think they’re your fault in particular:
several of these questions feel like they don’t cut reality at the joints, and would render important facets invisible. These were quick summaries so it’s not fair to judge them, but I feel this way about a lot of EA survey work where I do have details.
several of your questions revolve around growth; I think EA’s emphasis on growth has been toxic and needs a complete overhaul before EA is allowed to gather data again.
I especially think CEA’s emphasis on Highly Engaged people is a warped frame that causes a lot of invisible damage. My reasoning is pretty similar to Theo’s here.
I don’t believe EA knows what to do with the people it recruits, and should stop worrying about recruiting until that problem is resolved.
Asking “do people introduced to EA younger stick around longer?” has an implicit frame that longer is better, and is missing follow-ups like “is it good for them? what’s the counterfactual for the world?”