Agree with the original comment and Aella. I would add that should the university or others decide to take action, this matter would be important enough to stand the ground in favor of Bostrom, also non-anonymously. We can not “choose” our views, as some comments asked for that seems very PC. Also, we should not be held accountable for what we wrote 25+ years ago unless we repeat it.
However, “standing the ground” is precisely the opposite of what is needed, we need calm, well-intended, and measured discussions and I appreciated the blog post by David Thorstad in depth criticizing Bostrom. It is understandable when some (here, Twitter, or elsewhere) are angry, frustrated, or demand changes. Public statements like the one from CEA, however, are likely not helpful (that they don’t support the original mail is presumed without their message). Nor to be fair was the rather sloppy apology by Bostrom.
What is not obvious is the next step. I believe Bostrom that he is not interested in continuing this discussion and I do not see a value in forcing him to. Maybe a workshop/red-team white paper having a close and balanced look at this discussion where and if EA and the longtermism movement suffer from racism as alleged and if yes, what can be done about it?
we should not be held accountable for what we wrote 25+ years ago unless we repeat it
But repeating it is exactly what his “apology” did! None of the people angry about this is thinking “Bostrom was racist 26 years ago, and that’s problematic even though he apologized and has changed”. The point is that his new letter exemplifies how he is racist and supports eugenicist ideas still.
I understand where you are coming from and wish your comment was not downvoted so much. We both want EA free of racism and I suggested measures to be taken to ensure this and more should be considered.
While FTX was a once-in-a-decade crime and may have showed systematic failure of EA, Bostrom’s apology is not a crime. Of course it does reflect badly on EA PR-wise.
So I see your points and will read his next publications with a yellow flag in my mind. I do, however, think he should not be “canceled”, he likely is not racist (I don’t know him personally), and I and we should focus in 2023 mostly on alignment work or other global priorities. Should you feel different, I fully support measures as detailed above.
Agree with the original comment and Aella. I would add that should the university or others decide to take action, this matter would be important enough to stand the ground in favor of Bostrom, also non-anonymously. We can not “choose” our views, as some comments asked for that seems very PC. Also, we should not be held accountable for what we wrote 25+ years ago unless we repeat it.
However, “standing the ground” is precisely the opposite of what is needed, we need calm, well-intended, and measured discussions and I appreciated the blog post by David Thorstad in depth criticizing Bostrom. It is understandable when some (here, Twitter, or elsewhere) are angry, frustrated, or demand changes. Public statements like the one from CEA, however, are likely not helpful (that they don’t support the original mail is presumed without their message). Nor to be fair was the rather sloppy apology by Bostrom.
What is not obvious is the next step. I believe Bostrom that he is not interested in continuing this discussion and I do not see a value in forcing him to. Maybe a workshop/red-team white paper having a close and balanced look at this discussion where and if EA and the longtermism movement suffer from racism as alleged and if yes, what can be done about it?
But repeating it is exactly what his “apology” did! None of the people angry about this is thinking “Bostrom was racist 26 years ago, and that’s problematic even though he apologized and has changed”. The point is that his new letter exemplifies how he is racist and supports eugenicist ideas still.
I understand where you are coming from and wish your comment was not downvoted so much. We both want EA free of racism and I suggested measures to be taken to ensure this and more should be considered.
While FTX was a once-in-a-decade crime and may have showed systematic failure of EA, Bostrom’s apology is not a crime. Of course it does reflect badly on EA PR-wise.
So I see your points and will read his next publications with a yellow flag in my mind. I do, however, think he should not be “canceled”, he likely is not racist (I don’t know him personally), and I and we should focus in 2023 mostly on alignment work or other global priorities. Should you feel different, I fully support measures as detailed above.