Thanks to Jason Hausenloy for encouraging me to concretize and post these ideas.
EA Topics
Anecdotes of Parental Pressure on Career Choice
I haven’t seen much discussion of this, but parental pressure may play a large impact on the career choices of young EAs.
Impacts of Consumption in EA
Some EA individuals and organizations in the Bay Area spend a lot to increase their productivity. What are the climate/labor/animal welfare effects of consumption on e.g. Ubers, DoorDashing all meals.
Anecdotes on the Flynn Campaign from OR-06 Constituents
We’ve seen retrospectives of Carrick Flynn’s candidacy on the EA Forum, but it seems useful to gather more anecdotes fromoutsiders, particularly those engaged in electoral politics or living in OR-06.
Earthquake Prep Guide
Many EAs live in earthquake-prone regions, such as California. Is earthquake risk significant enough to warrant individual preparedness? If so, a preparedness guide similar to Finan Anderson’s on nuclear preparedness may be useful.
Anecdotes of Failed Targeted Outreach
There have been 4 occasions for which friends who I thought would be interested in EA and potentially valuable contributors, bounce off of the ideas/movement. Gather anecdotes and improving EA/outreach seems important.
Liberal Arguments for AI Safety
I haven’t seen a compelling writing in support of AI Safety from a liberal perspective, e.g. discussion of why regulation of unfettered development/technological progress is important.
How much influence can individual state/federal senators/representatives/assemblypeople have on AI safety policy?
How university students should balance community building vs. building skills for direct work
Non-EA Topics
Advantageous Political Geography
Despite winning more than 50% of the popular vote, President Biden won in just 2 out of the 8 congressional districts in Wisconsin during the 2020 presidential election. Despite winning a third of the popular vote in the 2018 US House of Representatives elections in California, Republicans won just 7 of 46 seats—and this map was constructed by an independent redistricting commission! What influences how political geography favors parties?
Berkeley CS Course Staff
My favorite courses have been Berkeley CS courses, which are mostly taught by undergraduate students who are generally between 19-22 years old—they who don’t have teaching credentials and are much younger than any K-12 teacher I’ve had. How can undergrads teach and organize these courses so well?
Colorado is not a Rectangle
Colorado looks like this:
Yet its border with New Mexico has this ~half mile indent:
why!?
Discoveries Ahead of Their Time
Nuclear weapons were developed 3-4 decades before the RSA cryptosystem, despite the former seeming much more technically complicated to develop than the latter. What other developments retrospectively seem ahead/behind their time?
Topics I Haven’t Had Time to Write About
Thanks to Jason Hausenloy for encouraging me to concretize and post these ideas.
EA Topics
Anecdotes of Parental Pressure on Career Choice
I haven’t seen much discussion of this, but parental pressure may play a large impact on the career choices of young EAs.
Impacts of Consumption in EA
Some EA individuals and organizations in the Bay Area spend a lot to increase their productivity. What are the climate/labor/animal welfare effects of consumption on e.g. Ubers, DoorDashing all meals.
Anecdotes on the Flynn Campaign from OR-06 Constituents
We’ve seen retrospectives of Carrick Flynn’s candidacy on the EA Forum, but it seems useful to gather more anecdotes from outsiders, particularly those engaged in electoral politics or living in OR-06.
Earthquake Prep Guide
Many EAs live in earthquake-prone regions, such as California. Is earthquake risk significant enough to warrant individual preparedness? If so, a preparedness guide similar to Finan Anderson’s on nuclear preparedness may be useful.
Anecdotes of Failed Targeted Outreach
There have been 4 occasions for which friends who I thought would be interested in EA and potentially valuable contributors, bounce off of the ideas/movement. Gather anecdotes and improving EA/outreach seems important.
Liberal Arguments for AI Safety
I haven’t seen a compelling writing in support of AI Safety from a liberal perspective, e.g. discussion of why regulation of unfettered development/technological progress is important.
How much influence can individual state/federal senators/representatives/assemblypeople have on AI safety policy?
How university students should balance community building vs. building skills for direct work
Non-EA Topics
Advantageous Political Geography
Despite winning more than 50% of the popular vote, President Biden won in just 2 out of the 8 congressional districts in Wisconsin during the 2020 presidential election. Despite winning a third of the popular vote in the 2018 US House of Representatives elections in California, Republicans won just 7 of 46 seats—and this map was constructed by an independent redistricting commission! What influences how political geography favors parties?
Berkeley CS Course Staff
My favorite courses have been Berkeley CS courses, which are mostly taught by undergraduate students who are generally between 19-22 years old—they who don’t have teaching credentials and are much younger than any K-12 teacher I’ve had. How can undergrads teach and organize these courses so well?
Colorado is not a Rectangle
Colorado looks like this:
Yet its border with New Mexico has this ~half mile indent:
why!?
Discoveries Ahead of Their Time
Nuclear weapons were developed 3-4 decades before the RSA cryptosystem, despite the former seeming much more technically complicated to develop than the latter. What other developments retrospectively seem ahead/behind their time?
You might be interested in the work by Andrew Critch, for example outlined in Some AI research areas and their relevance to existential safety.
Quite technical, but with a strong socially concerned bent.