I think it’s valuable to write critiques of grants that you believe to have mistakes, as I’m sure some of Open Philanthropy’s grants will turn out to be mistakes in retrospect and you’ve raised some quite reasonable concerns.
On the other hand, I was disappointed to read the following sentence “Henry drops out of school because he thinks he is exceptionally smarter and better equipped to solve ’our problems”. I guess when I read sentences like that I apply some (small) level of discounting towards the other claims made, because it sounds like a less than completely objective analysis. To be clear, I think it is valid to write a critique of whether people are biting off more than they can chew, but I still think my point stands.
I also found this quote interesting: “What personal relationships or conflicts of interest are there between the two organizations?” since it makes it sound like there are personal relationships or conflicts of interest without actually claiming this is the case. There might be such conflicts or this implication may not be intentional, but I thought it was worth noting.
Regarding this grant in particular: if you view it from the original EA highly evidence-based philanthropy end, then it isn’t the kind of grant that would rate highly in this framework. On the other hand, if you view it from the perspective of hits-based giving (thinking about philanthropy as a VC would), then it looks like a much more reasonable investment from this angle[1], as for instance, Mark Zuckerberg famously dropped out of college to start Facebook. Similarly, most start-ups have some degree of self-aggrandizement and I suspect that it might actually be functional in terms of pushing them toward greater ambition.
That said, if OpenPhilanthropy is pursuing this grant under a hits-based approach, it might be less controversial if they were to acknowledge this.
Though of course, if the grant was made on the basis of details that were misrepresented (I haven’t looked into those claims) then this would undercut this.
I think the discussion of hits-based giving is a bit beside the point. Many of the criticisms in the OP (“original post”) would speak against the grant even under hits-based giving. The only part where I think “hits-based giving” could be a satisfactory response (if everything else looks promising) is on the issue of prior expertise. If everything else looks promising, then it shouldn’t be a dealbreaker if someone lacks prior experience.
As I understand it, hits-based giving still means you have to be able to point to some specific reasons why the grant could turn out to be very impactful. And I understood the OP to be expressing something like, “I can’t find any specific reasons to expect this grant to be very impactful, except for its focus area – but there are other projects in the same space, so I wonder why this one was chosen.”
Agreed, that a hits-based approach doesn’t mean throwing money at everything. On the other hand, “lack of prior expertise” seems (at least in my books) to be the second strongest critique after the alleged misrepresentation.
So, while I conceded it doesn’t really address the strongest argument against this grant, I don’t see addressing the second strongest argument against the grant as being beside the point.
I agree with the points you have raised about subjectivity and my own personal views. And included the footnote about that collection of dot points being my very subjective read of how things developed. While I have tried my best to be attentive in my presentation of my read of the grant, some of it is just my analysis and it is is hard to present it without that color. I think it is legitimate that my subjectivity should influence your perception of my perspective and how seriously you think my inquiry should be taken.
I do think that there is enough objective detail given in my post for it to stand up to scrutiny, in particular the idea that Open Phil could have provided more detail on the grant to clarify and remove some of the concerns I have raised. I am not saying in any way that I have all the answers to the questions raised by the grant profile.
I think it’s valuable to write critiques of grants that you believe to have mistakes, as I’m sure some of Open Philanthropy’s grants will turn out to be mistakes in retrospect and you’ve raised some quite reasonable concerns.
On the other hand, I was disappointed to read the following sentence “Henry drops out of school because he thinks he is exceptionally smarter and better equipped to solve ’our problems”. I guess when I read sentences like that I apply some (small) level of discounting towards the other claims made, because it sounds like a less than completely objective analysis. To be clear, I think it is valid to write a critique of whether people are biting off more than they can chew, but I still think my point stands.
I also found this quote interesting: “What personal relationships or conflicts of interest are there between the two organizations?” since it makes it sound like there are personal relationships or conflicts of interest without actually claiming this is the case. There might be such conflicts or this implication may not be intentional, but I thought it was worth noting.
Regarding this grant in particular: if you view it from the original EA highly evidence-based philanthropy end, then it isn’t the kind of grant that would rate highly in this framework. On the other hand, if you view it from the perspective of hits-based giving (thinking about philanthropy as a VC would), then it looks like a much more reasonable investment from this angle[1], as for instance, Mark Zuckerberg famously dropped out of college to start Facebook. Similarly, most start-ups have some degree of self-aggrandizement and I suspect that it might actually be functional in terms of pushing them toward greater ambition.
That said, if OpenPhilanthropy is pursuing this grant under a hits-based approach, it might be less controversial if they were to acknowledge this.
Though of course, if the grant was made on the basis of details that were misrepresented (I haven’t looked into those claims) then this would undercut this.
In this case — and many, actually — I think it’s fair to assume they are. OP is pretty explicit about taking a hits-based giving approach.
I think the discussion of hits-based giving is a bit beside the point. Many of the criticisms in the OP (“original post”) would speak against the grant even under hits-based giving. The only part where I think “hits-based giving” could be a satisfactory response (if everything else looks promising) is on the issue of prior expertise. If everything else looks promising, then it shouldn’t be a dealbreaker if someone lacks prior experience.
As I understand it, hits-based giving still means you have to be able to point to some specific reasons why the grant could turn out to be very impactful. And I understood the OP to be expressing something like, “I can’t find any specific reasons to expect this grant to be very impactful, except for its focus area – but there are other projects in the same space, so I wonder why this one was chosen.”
Agreed, that a hits-based approach doesn’t mean throwing money at everything. On the other hand, “lack of prior expertise” seems (at least in my books) to be the second strongest critique after the alleged misrepresentation.
So, while I conceded it doesn’t really address the strongest argument against this grant, I don’t see addressing the second strongest argument against the grant as being beside the point.
Hi Chris,
I agree with the points you have raised about subjectivity and my own personal views. And included the footnote about that collection of dot points being my very subjective read of how things developed. While I have tried my best to be attentive in my presentation of my read of the grant, some of it is just my analysis and it is is hard to present it without that color. I think it is legitimate that my subjectivity should influence your perception of my perspective and how seriously you think my inquiry should be taken.
I do think that there is enough objective detail given in my post for it to stand up to scrutiny, in particular the idea that Open Phil could have provided more detail on the grant to clarify and remove some of the concerns I have raised. I am not saying in any way that I have all the answers to the questions raised by the grant profile.