Itās now occurred to me that a natural option to compare this against is having something like a directory listing EAs who are open to 1-on-1s on various topics, where their areas of expertise or interest are noted. Like this or this.
Here are some quick thoughts on how these options compare. But Iād be interested in othersā thoughts too.
Relative disadvantages of this ātentative AMAā approach:
Less centralised; you canāt see all the people listed in one place (or a small handful of places)
Harder to find again later; this post will soon slip off the radar, unless people remember it or happen to search for it
Maybe directs a disproportionate amount of attention/āprominence to the semi-random subset of EAs who decide to do a ātentative AMAā
E.g., for at least a brief period, this post is on the frontpage, just as would be an AMA from Toby Ord, Will MacAskill, etc., even though those are much more notable and relevant for many EAs. If a lot of people did ātentative AMAsā, thatād happen a lot. Whereas just one post where all such people can comment or add themselves to a directory would only ātake up attentionā once, in a sense.
On the other hand, the karma system provides a sort of natural way of sorting that out.
Relative advantage of this ātentative AMAā approach:
More likely to lead to public answers and discussion, rather than just 1-on-1s, which may benefit more people and allow the discussion to be found again later
Itās now occurred to me that a natural option to compare this against is having something like a directory listing EAs who are open to 1-on-1s on various topics, where their areas of expertise or interest are noted. Like this or this.
Here are some quick thoughts on how these options compare. But Iād be interested in othersā thoughts too.
Relative disadvantages of this ātentative AMAā approach:
Less centralised; you canāt see all the people listed in one place (or a small handful of places)
Harder to find again later; this post will soon slip off the radar, unless people remember it or happen to search for it
Maybe directs a disproportionate amount of attention/āprominence to the semi-random subset of EAs who decide to do a ātentative AMAā
E.g., for at least a brief period, this post is on the frontpage, just as would be an AMA from Toby Ord, Will MacAskill, etc., even though those are much more notable and relevant for many EAs. If a lot of people did ātentative AMAsā, thatād happen a lot. Whereas just one post where all such people can comment or add themselves to a directory would only ātake up attentionā once, in a sense.
On the other hand, the karma system provides a sort of natural way of sorting that out.
Relative advantage of this ātentative AMAā approach:
More likely to lead to public answers and discussion, rather than just 1-on-1s, which may benefit more people and allow the discussion to be found again later