Axby—glad you’re doing this! Singapore is such an exciting city-state, and seems very forward-looking.
I’m interested in whether CSF views itself as mostly focused on Singapore’s long-term future, or whether it might play a broader role as a sort of intermediary or intellectual clearing-house between the West (e.g. US/UK EA/Rationalist culture) and East Asia (e.g. China), in terms of considering global long-term issues.
So far, it seems like EA-style thinking has had quite limited impact in Singapore, China, South Korea, Japan, etc. Partly this is due to language barriers, culture barriers, and political/ideological differences. But partly it might have been due to EA/Rationalist culture just not making a sustained, focused effort at outreach—and at respectful, mutual understanding. (For example, many EAs still seem to demonize China, and treat the geopolitical AI arms races as something that the US really needs to win, to ‘save humanity from totalitarianism’.) So, I’m curious whether Singapore’s CSF might help West and East learn more about each other’s long-termist perspectives, plans, and concerns—in a spirit of genuine mutual respect rather than Western intellectual imperialism.
Axby—glad you’re doing this! Singapore is such an exciting city-state, and seems very forward-looking.
I’m interested in whether CSF views itself as mostly focused on Singapore’s long-term future, or whether it might play a broader role as a sort of intermediary or intellectual clearing-house between the West (e.g. US/UK EA/Rationalist culture) and East Asia (e.g. China), in terms of considering global long-term issues.
So far, it seems like EA-style thinking has had quite limited impact in Singapore, China, South Korea, Japan, etc. Partly this is due to language barriers, culture barriers, and political/ideological differences. But partly it might have been due to EA/Rationalist culture just not making a sustained, focused effort at outreach—and at respectful, mutual understanding. (For example, many EAs still seem to demonize China, and treat the geopolitical AI arms races as something that the US really needs to win, to ‘save humanity from totalitarianism’.) So, I’m curious whether Singapore’s CSF might help West and East learn more about each other’s long-termist perspectives, plans, and concerns—in a spirit of genuine mutual respect rather than Western intellectual imperialism.
Hi Geoffrey, thanks for the question! I have amended the post to respond to your question based on what I got from the CSF staff :)