Hi Felix, I think from the perspective of those suffering from micro-aggressions they expect (perhaps naively, the Catholic church is also supposedly very moral) that a space dedicated to altruism and the removal of bias (rationality) would be generally safer than e.g. a tech conference (I have been to many wind energy conferences with “booth babes”). I agree, maybe I am stretching the definition of “unique” somewhat, but I think there is something to it. But I am by no means an expert on this, and being white and male I am very open especially to feedback from those suffering from microaggressions that I am mistaken. If you clarify your question further, I might be able to provide more details. That said, I am uncertain about whether I am striking the balance right between taking up space in D&I conversation vs trying to take a tiny bit of the burden of working on D&I off those suffering from micro-aggressions etc. Let me know if you would be up for setting up a reading group on gender and/or race for EA purposes—I am keen to have a wide range of perspectives in such a group.
Hi Ulrik, if you’re anyplace else than Germany, try to reach out to (ideally) your National organizing team if you have one. I’ve talked to a lot of them in the last weeks, and the question of how to make EA spaces more inclusive and welcoming for people is on most people’s mind. Sometimes they don’t have the time to start a project on that, but maybe you can kickstart something like it in your region, or even internationally :)
In Germany, we have a diversity group with meetings every two weeks, but I think it is limited to folks living in the region. If you are interested in joining, I’ll ask them.
If they are happening elsewhere too, why is it unique to EA?
Hi Felix, I think from the perspective of those suffering from micro-aggressions they expect (perhaps naively, the Catholic church is also supposedly very moral) that a space dedicated to altruism and the removal of bias (rationality) would be generally safer than e.g. a tech conference (I have been to many wind energy conferences with “booth babes”). I agree, maybe I am stretching the definition of “unique” somewhat, but I think there is something to it. But I am by no means an expert on this, and being white and male I am very open especially to feedback from those suffering from microaggressions that I am mistaken. If you clarify your question further, I might be able to provide more details. That said, I am uncertain about whether I am striking the balance right between taking up space in D&I conversation vs trying to take a tiny bit of the burden of working on D&I off those suffering from micro-aggressions etc. Let me know if you would be up for setting up a reading group on gender and/or race for EA purposes—I am keen to have a wide range of perspectives in such a group.
Hi Ulrik, if you’re anyplace else than Germany, try to reach out to (ideally) your National organizing team if you have one. I’ve talked to a lot of them in the last weeks, and the question of how to make EA spaces more inclusive and welcoming for people is on most people’s mind. Sometimes they don’t have the time to start a project on that, but maybe you can kickstart something like it in your region, or even internationally :)
Hi Ulrik,
I think I understand what you mean. :)
In Germany, we have a diversity group with meetings every two weeks, but I think it is limited to folks living in the region. If you are interested in joining, I’ll ask them.