I really loved this speech, a lot. I had a lot of guesses on what the speech was going to be, but it ended up surprising & moving me. It takes a lot of courage to talk about your fears in front of 350 people, and more so to then post it on the internet.
For context, I am from / grew up in Singapore, and want to add some more context for those reading this who didn’t attend EAGxSingapore and would like to know more.
(The majority, if not all, people raised their hands)
Someone who’d previously attended EAG’s and EAGx’s previously told me that EAGxSingapore was the most welcoming and warm conferences they had attended, and many other conference attendees had told them the same thing.
EAGxSingapore had about 70% first-time attendees, many of whom could not attend EAG’s due to visa issues. So you have this group of super engaged EAs, who are going to their first proper EA conference and are just super excited and grateful to be there.
Something Dion didn’t mention in the speech (or needed to) was that this was (I believe) the most diverse EA conference ever. It was pretty cool to sit in the auditorium during her talk, and see a sea of black hair and people from cultures I grew up with.
Two things stem from this: One, I think this might have made people more open to being open and learning from each other, because you can’t assume shared context. Two, conversely, you get a bunch of people from Asian / African / LMIC backgrounds who get that your parents may be confused, suspicious or skeptical, the illegibility of trying to explain a movement doing 300 different things, the weirdness of becoming close friends with a bunch of internet strangers.
What I’m trying to say is that EA can be hard. It can be very demanding of you and your worldviews. … We emphasize taking the next steps when leaving a conference, but there will be many frustrations when you leave this room. You might want to apply for a high-impact job, but there’s nothing on the job board you can apply to in your country. You might want to socialize or network with EAs, but there’s no event in your time zone. You might even get offered a job or accepted into another conference but can’t go because of visa issues. Many factors might keep you from being as effective as you want to be, and these might be circumstances beyond your control.
(Nothing to add, other than a very very strong +1)
There was a feeling of emptiness on the flight back to the real world where no one knew or cared about x-risks or longtermism. The jarring difference felt very destabilizing. Many of you here who don’t live in EA hubs like me, and this might hit you the same way it did to me.
My past self resonated with this a lot. I’m sure many people have felt the pressure of being the “most EA” person in their city or country, and not feeling like others care as much about it. It can feel pretty lonely and hard, feeling like the most meaningful parts of your life are things you can’t fully share with your friends and family because they don’t “get” it.
Ironically, this conference actually helped me to bridge that gap, to make EA feel more part of my “real” life. Being able to spend time with EAs in my home- eating local food and making new memories in old haunts, giving them tourist tips, meeting each others’ parents and home friends—those moments were so wonderful and important.
I think my favorite moment is that Dion, after meeting my mother, proceeded to tell everyone “I love Vaidehi’s mother, I’ve never seen anyone insult someone so gracefully” (that someone was me, the insult was my mother calling me a “dum dum”).
There’s a lot more I could say, but I think I’ll end there for now.
I really loved this speech, a lot. I had a lot of guesses on what the speech was going to be, but it ended up surprising & moving me. It takes a lot of courage to talk about your fears in front of 350 people, and more so to then post it on the internet.
For context, I am from / grew up in Singapore, and want to add some more context for those reading this who didn’t attend EAGxSingapore and would like to know more.
Someone who’d previously attended EAG’s and EAGx’s previously told me that EAGxSingapore was the most welcoming and warm conferences they had attended, and many other conference attendees had told them the same thing.
EAGxSingapore had about 70% first-time attendees, many of whom could not attend EAG’s due to visa issues. So you have this group of super engaged EAs, who are going to their first proper EA conference and are just super excited and grateful to be there.
Something Dion didn’t mention in the speech (or needed to) was that this was (I believe) the most diverse EA conference ever. It was pretty cool to sit in the auditorium during her talk, and see a sea of black hair and people from cultures I grew up with.
Two things stem from this: One, I think this might have made people more open to being open and learning from each other, because you can’t assume shared context. Two, conversely, you get a bunch of people from Asian / African / LMIC backgrounds who get that your parents may be confused, suspicious or skeptical, the illegibility of trying to explain a movement doing 300 different things, the weirdness of becoming close friends with a bunch of internet strangers.
(Nothing to add, other than a very very strong +1)
My past self resonated with this a lot. I’m sure many people have felt the pressure of being the “most EA” person in their city or country, and not feeling like others care as much about it. It can feel pretty lonely and hard, feeling like the most meaningful parts of your life are things you can’t fully share with your friends and family because they don’t “get” it.
Ironically, this conference actually helped me to bridge that gap, to make EA feel more part of my “real” life. Being able to spend time with EAs in my home- eating local food and making new memories in old haunts, giving them tourist tips, meeting each others’ parents and home friends—those moments were so wonderful and important.
I think my favorite moment is that Dion, after meeting my mother, proceeded to tell everyone “I love Vaidehi’s mother, I’ve never seen anyone insult someone so gracefully” (that someone was me, the insult was my mother calling me a “dum dum”).
There’s a lot more I could say, but I think I’ll end there for now.