Yes, they were involved in the first, small, iteration of EAG, but their contributions were small compared to the human capital that they consumed. More importantly, they were a high-demand group that caused a lot of people serious psychological damage. For many, it has taken years to recover a sense of normality. They staged a partial takeover of some major EA institutions. They also gaslit the EA community about what they were doing, which confused and distracted decent-sized subsections of the EA communtiy for years.
I watched The Master a couple of months ago, and found to be a simultaneously compelling and moving description of the experience of cult membership, that I would recommend.
Yes, they were involved in the first, small, iteration of EAG
I agree with a broad gist of this comment, but I think this specific sentence is heavily underselling Leverage’s involvement. They ran the first two EA Summits, and also were heavily involved with the first two full EA Globals (which I was officially in charge of, so I would know).
Yes, they were involved in the first, small, iteration of EAG, but their contributions were small compared to the human capital that they consumed. More importantly, they were a high-demand group that caused a lot of people serious psychological damage. For many, it has taken years to recover a sense of normality. They staged a partial takeover of some major EA institutions. They also gaslit the EA community about what they were doing, which confused and distracted decent-sized subsections of the EA communtiy for years.
I watched The Master a couple of months ago, and found to be a simultaneously compelling and moving description of the experience of cult membership, that I would recommend.
I agree with a broad gist of this comment, but I think this specific sentence is heavily underselling Leverage’s involvement. They ran the first two EA Summits, and also were heavily involved with the first two full EA Globals (which I was officially in charge of, so I would know).