It would be impossible to summarize my opinion of everything that’s been written here. However, I’ll second some commenters by noting that many of these views, if published, would likely be net-positive for the author (assuming that the full explanation was well-reasoned and specific).
Examples of posts I think could lead to reasonable discussion (there are many others):
“We should evaluate reducing abortions as an EA cause.”
“In the grand scheme of things, chickens don’t really matter.”
“I’m pretty skeptical about polyamory.” (This has limited relevance to EA outside of the Bay Area, so I’m not sure how much sense it makes as a Forum post. That said, if you wanted to try it out, I know someone who might want to be your co-author.)
“There’s a lot of Girardian mimesis going on in EA cause prioritization.” (I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I’d be eager to find out!)
“CEA has been a long-term counterfactual net negative to the movement and might be better off disbanding or radically reforming (except for Julia Wise’s dept, who seem to be doing great work).” (Given that I work at CEA, I’d really like to hear more details about your views; we collect a lot of feedback on our various projects, but we’re always open to more.)
I understand why someone might be reluctant to post about their views; good criticism is hard to write, and it’s hard to predict how Forum users might respond to your ideas.
That’s why I (one of the Forum’s moderators) offer feedback and editing services to anyone who wants to publish a post. I’m not a perfect oracle, but I’ll do my best to predict how people might react to your arguments, and suggest ways you might clarify your points. If you don’t wind up publishing, your views will be safe with me.
(You can also use an anonymous email address or Forum account to send me a Google doc; I will encourage you to use a name, but I’ll provide feedback either way.)
Overall, while collecting anonymous feedback has benefits, it seems much better to me that these points be expressed in full posts that can be discussed in detail, and I’d like to facilitate that process.
(If you’re uncertain about the value of this process, I can refer you to others who have sent me work, and they can give [hopefully] unbiased feedback.)
*Of course, some of the views expressed on that form would invite widespread disapproval without strong evidence (e.g. personal attacks) or seem like trolling and would likely be received in that spirit (e.g. “right wingers should be euthanized”).
It would be impossible to summarize my opinion of everything that’s been written here. However, I’ll second some commenters by noting that many of these views, if published, would likely be net-positive for the author (assuming that the full explanation was well-reasoned and specific).
Examples of posts I think could lead to reasonable discussion (there are many others):
I understand why someone might be reluctant to post about their views; good criticism is hard to write, and it’s hard to predict how Forum users might respond to your ideas.
That’s why I (one of the Forum’s moderators) offer feedback and editing services to anyone who wants to publish a post. I’m not a perfect oracle, but I’ll do my best to predict how people might react to your arguments, and suggest ways you might clarify your points. If you don’t wind up publishing, your views will be safe with me.
(You can also use an anonymous email address or Forum account to send me a Google doc; I will encourage you to use a name, but I’ll provide feedback either way.)
Overall, while collecting anonymous feedback has benefits, it seems much better to me that these points be expressed in full posts that can be discussed in detail, and I’d like to facilitate that process.
(If you’re uncertain about the value of this process, I can refer you to others who have sent me work, and they can give [hopefully] unbiased feedback.)
*Of course, some of the views expressed on that form would invite widespread disapproval without strong evidence (e.g. personal attacks) or seem like trolling and would likely be received in that spirit (e.g. “right wingers should be euthanized”).