Nice post. I largely agree (as someone who was in the US Army National Guard for a few years).
To push back a little, I didn’t personally experience what you felt about internalizing a foreign ethic. And while military service does help one understand big national security issues, I think the advantage is generally rather slim and overrated—it’s perhaps comparable to volunteering for the Peace Corps not necessarily providing good knowledge about developmental economics.
I certainly got more exposure to diversity (social, ethnic, income, age) through the military than through other venues (as someone who grew up in Glendale and went to a private university). And the military along with its typical demographics are kind of underrepresented within EA, so for diversity’s sake we should look to be more connected with the military.
I don’t think you fully described one of the best things people can take from the military, which is the spirit of service to a cause. I am confused when I see people shy away from EA commitments because it seems too sacrificial or because they don’t feel socially harmony with most of the EA community, when from my perspective it is absolutely expected that an ordinary person can step up to the plate and tolerate such risks and costs when lives are on the line. To me, sticking with the EA community through thick and thin is just obviously the right thing to do. Of course, it’s not clear if joining the military will causally improve one’s mindset in this manner when it comes to EA.
Also: more EAs should be aware of the option of warrant officer careers. It’s a closer cultural fit with more technical focus.
Yea, I probably could’ve done a better job differentiating what I think people would get out of guard/reserve service vs. active duty. I absolutely would not expect the cultural absorption to happen in the guard/reserve; probably not even if you took a year-long mob. It really was a years-long process.
I agree that the national security knowledge is overrated, and tried to convey that—I think your Peace Corps analogy is spot on.
It’d be awesome if you wrote a post on warrant officer careers—nobody seems to know WTF warrants do, myself included!
Nice post. I largely agree (as someone who was in the US Army National Guard for a few years).
To push back a little, I didn’t personally experience what you felt about internalizing a foreign ethic. And while military service does help one understand big national security issues, I think the advantage is generally rather slim and overrated—it’s perhaps comparable to volunteering for the Peace Corps not necessarily providing good knowledge about developmental economics.
I certainly got more exposure to diversity (social, ethnic, income, age) through the military than through other venues (as someone who grew up in Glendale and went to a private university). And the military along with its typical demographics are kind of underrepresented within EA, so for diversity’s sake we should look to be more connected with the military.
I don’t think you fully described one of the best things people can take from the military, which is the spirit of service to a cause. I am confused when I see people shy away from EA commitments because it seems too sacrificial or because they don’t feel socially harmony with most of the EA community, when from my perspective it is absolutely expected that an ordinary person can step up to the plate and tolerate such risks and costs when lives are on the line. To me, sticking with the EA community through thick and thin is just obviously the right thing to do. Of course, it’s not clear if joining the military will causally improve one’s mindset in this manner when it comes to EA.
Also: more EAs should be aware of the option of warrant officer careers. It’s a closer cultural fit with more technical focus.
Thanks!
Yea, I probably could’ve done a better job differentiating what I think people would get out of guard/reserve service vs. active duty. I absolutely would not expect the cultural absorption to happen in the guard/reserve; probably not even if you took a year-long mob. It really was a years-long process.
I agree that the national security knowledge is overrated, and tried to convey that—I think your Peace Corps analogy is spot on.
It’d be awesome if you wrote a post on warrant officer careers—nobody seems to know WTF warrants do, myself included!