Thanks for the great post. I appreciate the idea of a EA university or a network of institutes like the Max-Planck Society. They both aim towards the idea of rigorous EA research. I would like to drop another similar idea (I don’t know whether it was already discussed and dismissed) which would allow everyone from academics to participate in the EA related research:
Fund an Open Access EA Journal [specifically focused on EA causes and cause prioritisation] without major hurdles for scientists to publish with an up-to-date Peer Review process, e.g. with paying the referees a reasonable fee, allowing for comments after publishing, etc. (I am not an expert in establishing Journals and how a peer review process should be optimised, so take this idea with a grain of salt). This would allow academics around the world to participate in high-quality research on classic EA topics such as longtermism, AI safety, biosecurity, global health and development, animal welfare, and cause prioritisation. It should be a serious journal with a different focus but a high quality level that graduates may use the published Papers as milestone in their career.
Maybe such an official Journal could be (at least perceived?) as more rigorous compared to a Forum with comment section?
One of our suggestions was to buy an existing journal as it might be easier than creating a new one. However, we think that there are a lot of reasons why either option might fail since most problems in academia are likely on a deeper level than journals. I guess other interventions are just much more effective. But I could be persuaded if someone presents good ideas addressing our concerns.
Thanks for the great post. I appreciate the idea of a EA university or a network of institutes like the Max-Planck Society. They both aim towards the idea of rigorous EA research. I would like to drop another similar idea (I don’t know whether it was already discussed and dismissed) which would allow everyone from academics to participate in the EA related research:
Fund an Open Access EA Journal [specifically focused on EA causes and cause prioritisation] without major hurdles for scientists to publish with an up-to-date Peer Review process, e.g. with paying the referees a reasonable fee, allowing for comments after publishing, etc. (I am not an expert in establishing Journals and how a peer review process should be optimised, so take this idea with a grain of salt). This would allow academics around the world to participate in high-quality research on classic EA topics such as longtermism, AI safety, biosecurity, global health and development, animal welfare, and cause prioritisation. It should be a serious journal with a different focus but a high quality level that graduates may use the published Papers as milestone in their career.
Maybe such an official Journal could be (at least perceived?) as more rigorous compared to a Forum with comment section?
One of our suggestions was to buy an existing journal as it might be easier than creating a new one. However, we think that there are a lot of reasons why either option might fail since most problems in academia are likely on a deeper level than journals. I guess other interventions are just much more effective. But I could be persuaded if someone presents good ideas addressing our concerns.