Yes I think you mostly captured it and quite well. But I think there is something a little more too, which is that EA meme actually is more epistemically humble than you think. There is EA the meme and EA the group. The EA meme has leaked into much of mainstream policy and economics. It’s in the water. The EA group has not.
Let’s say (referring to your other comment here), you do get a rich funder to fund work on applying alternate moral systems, in a ratio such that we, we being the current people and groups who you think compose ea (who is that?), in tandem with this new funding, are riding the perfect part of the curve where the marginal efficiency of exploration and exploitation (of our moral values) is equivalent.
Taking a specific example, let’s say this founder funds EA of biodiversity. Based on some (evolving) metric of biodiversity, this new group finds the best interventions for preserving biodiversity. Let’s say their current best cause areas after all of this debate are saving the coral reefs and preserving indigenous languages and culture.
In what sense are they any longer part of EA? Would you expect this subgroup to then post to the EA forums and go to EAG? More likely is they just become their own thing or the people get absorbed into the existing biodiversity or climate movements.
So then are we still properly exploring/exploiting? or do we now need a new group? Again, who is we?
We is some effort-status-capital-talent weighted aggregation of all the people who care to engage in the spaces and network of other people who would self describe as ea. It’s a very ephemeral thing driven by subliminal status games and hidden incentives.
I’m definitely not sure this is futile. I still try to push towards you vision, and others have too.
Yes I think you mostly captured it and quite well. But I think there is something a little more too, which is that EA meme actually is more epistemically humble than you think. There is EA the meme and EA the group. The EA meme has leaked into much of mainstream policy and economics. It’s in the water. The EA group has not.
Let’s say (referring to your other comment here), you do get a rich funder to fund work on applying alternate moral systems, in a ratio such that we, we being the current people and groups who you think compose ea (who is that?), in tandem with this new funding, are riding the perfect part of the curve where the marginal efficiency of exploration and exploitation (of our moral values) is equivalent.
Taking a specific example, let’s say this founder funds EA of biodiversity. Based on some (evolving) metric of biodiversity, this new group finds the best interventions for preserving biodiversity. Let’s say their current best cause areas after all of this debate are saving the coral reefs and preserving indigenous languages and culture.
In what sense are they any longer part of EA? Would you expect this subgroup to then post to the EA forums and go to EAG? More likely is they just become their own thing or the people get absorbed into the existing biodiversity or climate movements.
So then are we still properly exploring/exploiting? or do we now need a new group? Again, who is we?
We is some effort-status-capital-talent weighted aggregation of all the people who care to engage in the spaces and network of other people who would self describe as ea. It’s a very ephemeral thing driven by subliminal status games and hidden incentives.
I’m definitely not sure this is futile. I still try to push towards you vision, and others have too.
However the question isn’t can it be done, but is it the best path. I now lean in the direction that it is better to just start a new movement. I have tried to flesh parts of generative visions.