I donât think I agree either with the idea of recruiting people from elite colleges or recruiting âInternet weirdoesâ. Iâm not against inviting in either of those kinds of people, but why target them specifically? I prefer a version of the EA movement that is more wholesome, populist, inclusive, and egalitarian.
I donât mean populist in the typical political sense used these days of being against institutions, against experts, highly distrustful, framing things as good people vs. bad people, or adopting the âparanoid styleâ. I mean populist in the sense of believing average, everyday, ordinary people are good, have a lot to contribute, are diverse and heterogenous, are often talented, wise, intelligent, and moral, and often are full of surprises. A belief in people, in the average person, in the median person, in the diversity of people who are never quite captured by an average or a median.
I donât like the somewhat more traditional, more institutionalist elitism you sometimes see in EA, and I donât like the idiosyncratic, anti-institutionalist nerd elitism of the rationalist community, where people seem to think the best people by far, and maybe the only people really worth a damn, are them, or people just like them. Iâm a weird person, and Iâve often had to fight to find a place in the world, but I think itâs the wrong lesson to learn to say, âPeople treated me badly because I was different and acted like I was inferior just because I wasnât like them⌠now I finally see the truth⌠itâs normal people who are inferior and itâs people like me who are better than everyone else!â Good job, God or karma or whatever sent you a trial so youâd have a chance to become more enlightened and learn compassion, and instead youâre repeating the cycle of samsara. Better luck next life.
Itâs possible there are all kinds of ways to reach people from different walks of life that would be a good idea. Iâm just highly suspicious of any idea that thereâs a superior kind of person, suspiciously similar to the person saying whoâs superior and whoâs not, and that outreach should be focused specifically on that kind of person.
I donât think I agree either with the idea of recruiting people from elite colleges or recruiting âInternet weirdoesâ. Iâm not against inviting in either of those kinds of people, but why target them specifically? I prefer a version of the EA movement that is more wholesome, populist, inclusive, and egalitarian.
I donât mean populist in the typical political sense used these days of being against institutions, against experts, highly distrustful, framing things as good people vs. bad people, or adopting the âparanoid styleâ. I mean populist in the sense of believing average, everyday, ordinary people are good, have a lot to contribute, are diverse and heterogenous, are often talented, wise, intelligent, and moral, and often are full of surprises. A belief in people, in the average person, in the median person, in the diversity of people who are never quite captured by an average or a median.
I donât like the somewhat more traditional, more institutionalist elitism you sometimes see in EA, and I donât like the idiosyncratic, anti-institutionalist nerd elitism of the rationalist community, where people seem to think the best people by far, and maybe the only people really worth a damn, are them, or people just like them. Iâm a weird person, and Iâve often had to fight to find a place in the world, but I think itâs the wrong lesson to learn to say, âPeople treated me badly because I was different and acted like I was inferior just because I wasnât like them⌠now I finally see the truth⌠itâs normal people who are inferior and itâs people like me who are better than everyone else!â Good job, God or karma or whatever sent you a trial so youâd have a chance to become more enlightened and learn compassion, and instead youâre repeating the cycle of samsara. Better luck next life.
Itâs possible there are all kinds of ways to reach people from different walks of life that would be a good idea. Iâm just highly suspicious of any idea that thereâs a superior kind of person, suspiciously similar to the person saying whoâs superior and whoâs not, and that outreach should be focused specifically on that kind of person.