I can’t imagine much worse for the prospects of EA than to be associated with Dominic Cummings. He of course now claims to have had very little influence on COVID policy, since it was widely regarded as a shambles during his time. Whatever the truth of this, it’s precisely through association with widely hated figures like this that EA risks evaporating as quickly as it has grown. This is also why we need to make a strong distinction between “the abstract idea of maximising positive impact,” which would survive this, and “the social movement that this forum is part of”, a member of a rather short-lived reference class (albeit with some good signs at the moment, as you say).
For those abroad unfamiliar with quite how unpopular Dominic Cummings is, here’s an article arguing he was the most unpopular man in the country at the time
I can’t imagine much worse for the prospects of EA than to be associated with Dominic Cummings. He of course now claims to have had very little influence on COVID policy, since it was widely regarded as a shambles during his time. Whatever the truth of this, it’s precisely through association with widely hated figures like this that EA risks evaporating as quickly as it has grown. This is also why we need to make a strong distinction between “the abstract idea of maximising positive impact,” which would survive this, and “the social movement that this forum is part of”, a member of a rather short-lived reference class (albeit with some good signs at the moment, as you say).
For those abroad unfamiliar with quite how unpopular Dominic Cummings is, here’s an article arguing he was the most unpopular man in the country at the time
https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/newsmaker-dominic-cummings—britains-most-hated-man-1.71730676
and here’s a poll from May 2021 showing only 14% of people trusted him on government handling of COVID, by comparison with 34% for the prime minister. https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/iszcru07g6/TheTimes_Coronahandling_Cummings_Results_210520.pdf