I think something funny is going on with the definitions here. In explaining the “typical” versus “dedicated” distinction you say the following:
One highly-upvoted comment expressed “I expect 80%+ of EAs and rising to be ‘softcore’ for the foreseeable future.” This correlates with the 90/9/1% generalization, and makes prima facie sense based on the distribution of EA group organizers versus participants, etc.
Which seems to imply that “dedicated” EAs are just the top 10% of all EAs. Later you make this claim more explicit:
Since the number of dedicated EA members is capped by the number of typical ones, in order to get more dedicated ones, we have to get substantially more typical ones, around 8-9 typical EA members to get a dedicated one.
But, if this is the way you’re defining the terms, then it’s trivially true that we should get more typical EAs. In fact, under this definition, it’s not possible to increase the number of dedicated EAs unless you attract more typical EAs. Perhaps I’ve missed something. If so, please feel free to explain.
I should have been more clear on this topic, thanks for pointing this out!
This is an area where we need to unpack the binary-seeming nature of the typical/dedicated divide. I believe it is true that to get more dedicated EA participants, we need to get more typical EA participants within the broad spectrum ranging from the casual engagement pole up to the fuzzy typical/dedicated divide in between the casual engagement pole and the highest engagement pole.
However, the question I am focusing on in the post is comparing putting demands on typical EA members and not making them feel included if they don’t perform to demands, versus making them feel included regardless and simply rewarding higher involvement. My take is that the second strategy will overall work better for advancing the movement.
I think something funny is going on with the definitions here. In explaining the “typical” versus “dedicated” distinction you say the following:
Which seems to imply that “dedicated” EAs are just the top 10% of all EAs. Later you make this claim more explicit:
But, if this is the way you’re defining the terms, then it’s trivially true that we should get more typical EAs. In fact, under this definition, it’s not possible to increase the number of dedicated EAs unless you attract more typical EAs. Perhaps I’ve missed something. If so, please feel free to explain.
I should have been more clear on this topic, thanks for pointing this out!
This is an area where we need to unpack the binary-seeming nature of the typical/dedicated divide. I believe it is true that to get more dedicated EA participants, we need to get more typical EA participants within the broad spectrum ranging from the casual engagement pole up to the fuzzy typical/dedicated divide in between the casual engagement pole and the highest engagement pole.
However, the question I am focusing on in the post is comparing putting demands on typical EA members and not making them feel included if they don’t perform to demands, versus making them feel included regardless and simply rewarding higher involvement. My take is that the second strategy will overall work better for advancing the movement.
To be honest, if you don’t have a non-circular definition of the key terms, I think you should basically throw the whole argument out.
I think I’m missing something regarding the circularity of definitions. Can you clarify what about it seems circular to you?