I agree that most people who would stop pursuing their project if they receive negative feedback via the EA Forum (with upvotes being an indicator of the level of community agreement), but people on the EA Forum may understate how negatively they view the project (for reasons of politeness). And even the mildly negative feedback may cause significant embarrassment for the person (which could deter people from asking for money publicly).
The platform would allow candid rejection of a bad idea without the embarrassment. It would also make it more likely that a good idea that starts from a bad idea will be funded. On a public platform, people with limited time may be inclined to dismiss a greatly improved version of a previously rejected idea. By contrast, if CEA allows for a resubmission on the grounds of significant improvement, the evaluators would know to give the new proposal serious consideration.
I agree that most people who would stop pursuing their project if they receive negative feedback via the EA Forum (with upvotes being an indicator of the level of community agreement), but people on the EA Forum may understate how negatively they view the project (for reasons of politeness). And even the mildly negative feedback may cause significant embarrassment for the person (which could deter people from asking for money publicly).
The platform would allow candid rejection of a bad idea without the embarrassment. It would also make it more likely that a good idea that starts from a bad idea will be funded. On a public platform, people with limited time may be inclined to dismiss a greatly improved version of a previously rejected idea. By contrast, if CEA allows for a resubmission on the grounds of significant improvement, the evaluators would know to give the new proposal serious consideration.