I think the devil is really in the details here. I think there are some reasonable versions of this.
The big question is why and how you’re criticizing people, and what that reveals about your beliefs (and what those beliefs are).
As an extreme example, imagine if a trusted researcher came out publicly, saying, ”EA is a danger to humanity because it’s stopping us from getting to AGI very quickly, and we need to raise as much public pressure against EA as possible, as quickly as possible. We need to shut EA down.”
If I were a funder, and I were funding researchers, I’d be hesitant to fund researchers who both believed that and was taking intense action accordingly. Like, they might be directly fighting against my interests.
It’s possible to use criticism to improve a field or try to destroy it.
I’m a big fan of positive criticism, but think that some kinds of criticism can be destructive (see a lot of politics, for example)
I know less about this certain circumstance, I’m just pointing out how the other side would see it.
This is all reasonable but none of your comment addresses the part where I’m confused. I’m confused about someone saying something that’s either literally the following sentence, or identical in meaning to:
“Please don’t criticize central figures in EA because it may lead to an inability to secure EA funding.”
If I were a funder, and I were funding researchers, I’d be hesitant to fund researchers who both believed that and was taking intense action accordingly. Like, they might be directly fighting against my interests.
That part of the example makes sense to me. What I don’t understand is the following:
In your example, imagine you’re a friend, colleague, or an acquaintance of that researcher who considers publishing their draft about how EA needs to be stopped because it’s slowing down AGI. What do you tell them? It seems like telling them “The reason you shouldn’t publish this piece is that you [or “we,” in case you’re affiliated with them] might no longer get any funding” is a strange non sequitur. If you think they’re right about their claim, it’s really important to publish the article anyway. If you think they’re wrong, there are still arguments in favor of discussing criticism openly, but also arguments against confidently advocating drastic measures unilaterally and based on brittle arguments. If you thought the article was likely to do damage, the intrinsic damage is probably larger than no longer getting funding?
I can totally see EAs advocating against the publication of certain articles that they think are needlessly incendiary and mostly wrong, too uncharitable, or unilateral and too strongly worded. I don’t share those concerns personally (I think open discussion is almost always best), but I can see other people caring about those things more strongly. I was thrown off by the idea that people would mention funding as the decisive consideration against publication. I still feel confused about this, but now I’m curious.
I might be able to provide a bit of context:
I think the devil is really in the details here. I think there are some reasonable versions of this.
The big question is why and how you’re criticizing people, and what that reveals about your beliefs (and what those beliefs are).
As an extreme example, imagine if a trusted researcher came out publicly, saying,
”EA is a danger to humanity because it’s stopping us from getting to AGI very quickly, and we need to raise as much public pressure against EA as possible, as quickly as possible. We need to shut EA down.”
If I were a funder, and I were funding researchers, I’d be hesitant to fund researchers who both believed that and was taking intense action accordingly. Like, they might be directly fighting against my interests.
It’s possible to use criticism to improve a field or try to destroy it.
I’m a big fan of positive criticism, but think that some kinds of criticism can be destructive (see a lot of politics, for example)
I know less about this certain circumstance, I’m just pointing out how the other side would see it.
This is all reasonable but none of your comment addresses the part where I’m confused. I’m confused about someone saying something that’s either literally the following sentence, or identical in meaning to:
“Please don’t criticize central figures in EA because it may lead to an inability to secure EA funding.”
That part of the example makes sense to me. What I don’t understand is the following:
In your example, imagine you’re a friend, colleague, or an acquaintance of that researcher who considers publishing their draft about how EA needs to be stopped because it’s slowing down AGI. What do you tell them? It seems like telling them “The reason you shouldn’t publish this piece is that you [or “we,” in case you’re affiliated with them] might no longer get any funding” is a strange non sequitur. If you think they’re right about their claim, it’s really important to publish the article anyway. If you think they’re wrong, there are still arguments in favor of discussing criticism openly, but also arguments against confidently advocating drastic measures unilaterally and based on brittle arguments. If you thought the article was likely to do damage, the intrinsic damage is probably larger than no longer getting funding?
I can totally see EAs advocating against the publication of certain articles that they think are needlessly incendiary and mostly wrong, too uncharitable, or unilateral and too strongly worded. I don’t share those concerns personally (I think open discussion is almost always best), but I can see other people caring about those things more strongly. I was thrown off by the idea that people would mention funding as the decisive consideration against publication. I still feel confused about this, but now I’m curious.