The last EAG I attended had rules restricting handing out materials.
Having just finished watching this Dwarkesh video which explained how big a deal pamphlets were when they were first invented, I’d actually go the other way and encourage it instead.
Here’s my reasoning: Talks have been de-emphasised in favour of one-on-ones at EAGs. There’s a lot to like about one-on-ones, but one disadvantage is that we’ve removed a key avenue for ideas to gain a critical mass and enter the water supply. Pamphlets could fill this gap. After all, if you see a good pamphlet, it’d be quite natural for it to come out during a conversation and for you to pull it out.
Additionally, when you have dozens of one-on-ones, things often blur together. Now, you can be disciplined and keep notes, but that’s hard and often I find my phone is short of battery. If people handed out pamphlets containing their proposals or takes, then it’d be easier to review them afterwards; conversations would be much more likely to have effects that last. Two further benefits: it might be more efficient to exchange pamphlets at the start of a one-on-one and producing a pamphlet would convince people to figure figure out how to communicate their ideas clearly.
I agree with all of the points you’ve raised, but am holding off on agree voting for the moment. Do you know why that EAG restricted handing out materials?
The last EAG I attended had rules restricting handing out materials.
Having just finished watching this Dwarkesh video which explained how big a deal pamphlets were when they were first invented, I’d actually go the other way and encourage it instead.
Here’s my reasoning: Talks have been de-emphasised in favour of one-on-ones at EAGs. There’s a lot to like about one-on-ones, but one disadvantage is that we’ve removed a key avenue for ideas to gain a critical mass and enter the water supply. Pamphlets could fill this gap. After all, if you see a good pamphlet, it’d be quite natural for it to come out during a conversation and for you to pull it out.
Additionally, when you have dozens of one-on-ones, things often blur together. Now, you can be disciplined and keep notes, but that’s hard and often I find my phone is short of battery. If people handed out pamphlets containing their proposals or takes, then it’d be easier to review them afterwards; conversations would be much more likely to have effects that last. Two further benefits: it might be more efficient to exchange pamphlets at the start of a one-on-one and producing a pamphlet would convince people to figure figure out how to communicate their ideas clearly.
I agree with all of the points you’ve raised, but am holding off on agree voting for the moment. Do you know why that EAG restricted handing out materials?
I don’t really know.
But that’s a good point: Chesterton’s fence is a pretty good heuristic.
Probably some people were being a bit pushy advertising their services?