Strongly agree that being more welcoming is critical! I focused more on the negatives—not being hostile to people who are potential allies, but I definitely think both are important.
That said, I really hate the framing of “not having capacity for people”—we aren’t, or should not be, telling everyone that they need to work at EA organizations to be EA-oriented. Even ignoring the fact that career capital is probably critical for many of the people joining, it’s OK for EAs to have normal jobs and normal careers and donate—and if they are looking for more involvement, reading more, writing / blogging / talking to friends, and attending local meet-ups is a great start.
I consider myself a part of the community and I am not employed in an EA org, nor do I intend to be anytime soon so I know that having an EA job or funding is not needed for that.
I meant the capacity to give people a nuanced enough understanding of the existing ideas and thinking processes as well as the capacity to give people the feeling that this is their community, that they belong in EA spaces, and that they can push back on anything they disagree with.
It’s quite hard to communicate the fundamental ideas and how they link to current conclusions in a nuanced way. I think integrating people into any community in a way that avoids fracturing or without losing the trust that community members have with each other (but still allowing new community members to push back on old ideas that they disagree with) takes time and can only be done, I think, if we grow at a slow enough pace.
Strongly agree that being more welcoming is critical! I focused more on the negatives—not being hostile to people who are potential allies, but I definitely think both are important.
That said, I really hate the framing of “not having capacity for people”—we aren’t, or should not be, telling everyone that they need to work at EA organizations to be EA-oriented. Even ignoring the fact that career capital is probably critical for many of the people joining, it’s OK for EAs to have normal jobs and normal careers and donate—and if they are looking for more involvement, reading more, writing / blogging / talking to friends, and attending local meet-ups is a great start.
I agree with that. 🙂
I consider myself a part of the community and I am not employed in an EA org, nor do I intend to be anytime soon so I know that having an EA job or funding is not needed for that.
I meant the capacity to give people a nuanced enough understanding of the existing ideas and thinking processes as well as the capacity to give people the feeling that this is their community, that they belong in EA spaces, and that they can push back on anything they disagree with.
It’s quite hard to communicate the fundamental ideas and how they link to current conclusions in a nuanced way. I think integrating people into any community in a way that avoids fracturing or without losing the trust that community members have with each other (but still allowing new community members to push back on old ideas that they disagree with) takes time and can only be done, I think, if we grow at a slow enough pace.