I actually disagree with your definition. Will’s definition allows for debate about what counts as evidence and careful reasoning, and whether hits based giving or focusing on RCTs is a better path. That ambiguity seems critical for capturing what EA is, a project still somewhat in flux and one that allows for refinement, rather than claiming there are 2 specific different things.
A concrete example* of why we should be OK with leaving things ambiguous is considering ideas like the mathematical universe hypothesis (MUH). Someone can ask; “Should the MUH be considered as a potential path towards non-causal trade with other universes?” Is that question part of EA? I think there’s a case to make that the answer is yes (in my view correctly,) because it is relevant to the question of revisiting the “tentatively understanding” part of Will’s definition.
*In the strangest sense of “concrete” I think I’ve ever used.
I agree that the ambiguity in whether giving in a hits-based way or evidence-based way is better, is an important aspect of current EA understanding. In fact, I think this could be a potential 4th point (I mentioned a third one earlier) to add to the definition desiderata: The definition should hint at the uncertainty that is in current EA understanding.
I also agree that my definition doesn’t bring out this ambiguity. I am afraid it might even be doing the opposite! The general consensus is that both experimental & theoretical parts of the natural sciences are equally important and must be done. But I guess EAs are actually unsure if the evidence-based giving & careful reasoning-based giving (hits based) should both be done or if we would be doing more good by just focussing on one. I should possibly read up more on this. (I would appreciate it if any of you can DM me any resources you have found on this) I just assumed EAs believed both must be done. My bad!
Disagreement:
I don’t see how Will’s definition allows for debating said ambiguity though. As I mentioned in my earlier comment, I don’t think that the definition distinguishes between the two schools of thought enough. As a consequence, I also don’t think it shows the ambiguity between them. I believe a conflict(aka ambiguity) requires at least two things but the definition actually doesn’t convincingly show there are two things in the first place, in my opinion.
I actually disagree with your definition. Will’s definition allows for debate about what counts as evidence and careful reasoning, and whether hits based giving or focusing on RCTs is a better path. That ambiguity seems critical for capturing what EA is, a project still somewhat in flux and one that allows for refinement, rather than claiming there are 2 specific different things.
A concrete example* of why we should be OK with leaving things ambiguous is considering ideas like the mathematical universe hypothesis (MUH). Someone can ask; “Should the MUH be considered as a potential path towards non-causal trade with other universes?” Is that question part of EA? I think there’s a case to make that the answer is yes (in my view correctly,) because it is relevant to the question of revisiting the “tentatively understanding” part of Will’s definition.
*In the strangest sense of “concrete” I think I’ve ever used.
I both agree and disagree with you.
Agreements:
I agree that the ambiguity in whether giving in a hits-based way or evidence-based way is better, is an important aspect of current EA understanding. In fact, I think this could be a potential 4th point (I mentioned a third one earlier) to add to the definition desiderata: The definition should hint at the uncertainty that is in current EA understanding.
I also agree that my definition doesn’t bring out this ambiguity. I am afraid it might even be doing the opposite! The general consensus is that both experimental & theoretical parts of the natural sciences are equally important and must be done. But I guess EAs are actually unsure if the evidence-based giving & careful reasoning-based giving (hits based) should both be done or if we would be doing more good by just focussing on one. I should possibly read up more on this. (I would appreciate it if any of you can DM me any resources you have found on this) I just assumed EAs believed both must be done. My bad!
Disagreement: I don’t see how Will’s definition allows for debating said ambiguity though. As I mentioned in my earlier comment, I don’t think that the definition distinguishes between the two schools of thought enough. As a consequence, I also don’t think it shows the ambiguity between them. I believe a conflict(aka ambiguity) requires at least two things but the definition actually doesn’t convincingly show there are two things in the first place, in my opinion.