I haven’t seen the series, but am currently halfway through the second book.
I think it really depends on the person. The person I imagine would watch three-body problem, get hooked, and subsequently ponder about how it relates to the real world, seems like they also would get hooked by just getting sent a good lesswrong post?
But sure, if someone mentioned to me they watched and liked the series and they don’t know about EA already, I think it could be a great way to start a conversation about EA and Longtermism.
I think there’s a huge difference in potential reach between a major TV series and a LessWrong post.
According to this summary from Financial Times, as of March 27, ‘3 Body Problem’ had received about 82 million view-hours, equivalent to about 10 million people worldwide watching the whole 8-part series. It was a top 10 Netflix series in over 90 countries.
Whereas a good LessWrong post might get 100 likes.
We should be more scope-sensitive about public impact!
I think I am misunderstanding the original question then?
I mean if you ask: “what you all think about the series as an entry point for talking about some of these EA issues with friends, family, colleagues, and students”
then the reach is not the 10 million people watching the show, it’s the people you get a chance to speak to.
I haven’t seen the series, but am currently halfway through the second book.
I think it really depends on the person. The person I imagine would watch three-body problem, get hooked, and subsequently ponder about how it relates to the real world, seems like they also would get hooked by just getting sent a good lesswrong post?
But sure, if someone mentioned to me they watched and liked the series and they don’t know about EA already, I think it could be a great way to start a conversation about EA and Longtermism.
I think there’s a huge difference in potential reach between a major TV series and a LessWrong post.
According to this summary from Financial Times, as of March 27, ‘3 Body Problem’ had received about 82 million view-hours, equivalent to about 10 million people worldwide watching the whole 8-part series. It was a top 10 Netflix series in over 90 countries.
Whereas a good LessWrong post might get 100 likes.
We should be more scope-sensitive about public impact!
I think I am misunderstanding the original question then?
I mean if you ask: “what you all think about the series as an entry point for talking about some of these EA issues with friends, family, colleagues, and students”
then the reach is not the 10 million people watching the show, it’s the people you get a chance to speak to.