Comment about the content of a hypothetical documentary:
I disagree when you say:
We are not talking about a documentary on EA, but EA relevant topics. When it comes to communicating the core ideas of EA we believe a format that allows for easier updating, more depth, nuance and interaction would be better.
There are already documentaries out there about asteroid impacts, climate change, global poverty, nuclear war, pandemics, animal welfare, etc. There are probably some specific areas where a documentary about a specific EA cause area could make an impact, sure. (An animal welfare documentary made by EAs would probably be very different from the typical animal-welfare-themed fare available today! And nobody to my knowledge has made a good documentary about AI risk.)
But I think the highest expected value would be in explaining the fundamental concepts of EA. Sure, the resulting documentary would be a fixed portrait in time and couldn’t be updated as the movement learns and grows. But I don’t think that’s a big problem. Much more importantly, I think that communicating the EA mindset (stuff like cause-neutrality, a focus on cost-effectiveness, quantitative comparisons using frameworks like importance/tractability/neglectedness, and hits-based giving) is the best way to rise above the din of everyone clamoring that their advocacy issue is important and you should listen to them. Of course a movie about supervolcanoes will tell me that supervolcanoes are important, and a movie about how Trump is a bad president will tell me that presidential politics is important, and a movie about overfishing will want me to freak out about the problems caused by overfishing. When all documentary movies are like this, people learn to discount any particular movie’s message.
I think that a film attempting to communicate the core ideas of Effective Altruism would be much more original and convincing than a film about individual cause areas. I think “Cosmos” is a great model for a highly-influential docuseries that covered a broad range of abstract ideas—tying together interviews with experts, experimental demonstrations, historical anecdotes, and CGI visualizations meant to make abstract ideas feel vivid and memorable.
First, shortly addressing the idea that there are documentaries on many EA related topics.
I agree and I believe you very likely have a better grasp of this than me. But, as you yourself suggest, I think there are gaps. E.g. I have not seen anything on wildlife animal welfare, relevant on AI x-risks, Longtermism, Civilization resilience, S-risks, Whole brain emulation etc. I am not sure these would be the best things to do a documentary on (which is part of the reason for writing this) but it at least seems worth considering.
If you had to choose a cause area/specific topic in EA to do a documentary on—what would you choose?
Moving on to the question of focusing on a specific cause area/topic or EA in general.
To some extent I agree with you. I think the possible upside of a documentary regarding the core ideas of EA is larger than the upside of a documentary on a certain cause area. However, I also believe that the possible downside is bigger. And being very risk averse with the EA brand, and not sure that a documentary could induce inclination along with awareness, I feel very hesitant to promote an explicit EA documentary. Here I think it is important to consider the telephone game effect and, to my impression, bad experiences from early mass media outreach on the general concept of effective altruism. Further, I feel we should not be in too much of a hurry with getting people on board with EA, as premature mass communication/recruitment could lower the long term potential.
That being said, I do believe something like “a big Cosmos-style TV series” (like you mention in your next comment), would be relevant further down the line. It seems such an effort would allow for greater breadth (how many ideas one can explore) and depth (how much nuance one can add to the ideas). Also, I think it makes sense to learn from doing other documentaries first.
One thing I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on is something in between. Let’s say a documentary about longtermism that really focuses on central EA ideas, without being EA branded. Do you think that would be more impactful than a documentary on a more specific cause area? Or do you think the documentary must be “EA branded”?
Speaking only for myself and not my co-author, but my spontaneous reaction to your reply is that I agree with what you are saying regarding that this (an EA mindset documentary) would be what would stand out the most among the content that is already out there.
My feeling is still that EA movement would be very opposed to this? My perception has always been that there is such a large emphasis on nuanced communication regarding EA and a preference to always err on the side of caution regarding any “promotion” of the EA movement. Maybe what would be better would be something extremely well produced on the power of rational thinking, that also mentions the EA movement as an interesting movement that has come out of this way of viewing the world?
Definitely agree about Cosmos being an amazing model for what high quality content is possible to produce and make accessible to a wider audience. It really manages to balance the entertainment part with the informative part. I also think Cosmos is a good case for really aiming high and for the possibilities a big budget can open up for a production in terms of quality and reach.
Comment about the content of a hypothetical documentary:
I disagree when you say:
There are already documentaries out there about asteroid impacts, climate change, global poverty, nuclear war, pandemics, animal welfare, etc. There are probably some specific areas where a documentary about a specific EA cause area could make an impact, sure. (An animal welfare documentary made by EAs would probably be very different from the typical animal-welfare-themed fare available today! And nobody to my knowledge has made a good documentary about AI risk.)
But I think the highest expected value would be in explaining the fundamental concepts of EA. Sure, the resulting documentary would be a fixed portrait in time and couldn’t be updated as the movement learns and grows. But I don’t think that’s a big problem. Much more importantly, I think that communicating the EA mindset (stuff like cause-neutrality, a focus on cost-effectiveness, quantitative comparisons using frameworks like importance/tractability/neglectedness, and hits-based giving) is the best way to rise above the din of everyone clamoring that their advocacy issue is important and you should listen to them. Of course a movie about supervolcanoes will tell me that supervolcanoes are important, and a movie about how Trump is a bad president will tell me that presidential politics is important, and a movie about overfishing will want me to freak out about the problems caused by overfishing. When all documentary movies are like this, people learn to discount any particular movie’s message.
I think that a film attempting to communicate the core ideas of Effective Altruism would be much more original and convincing than a film about individual cause areas. I think “Cosmos” is a great model for a highly-influential docuseries that covered a broad range of abstract ideas—tying together interviews with experts, experimental demonstrations, historical anecdotes, and CGI visualizations meant to make abstract ideas feel vivid and memorable.
Hej!
Thanks for great pushback.
First, shortly addressing the idea that there are documentaries on many EA related topics.
I agree and I believe you very likely have a better grasp of this than me. But, as you yourself suggest, I think there are gaps. E.g. I have not seen anything on wildlife animal welfare, relevant on AI x-risks, Longtermism, Civilization resilience, S-risks, Whole brain emulation etc. I am not sure these would be the best things to do a documentary on (which is part of the reason for writing this) but it at least seems worth considering.
If you had to choose a cause area/specific topic in EA to do a documentary on—what would you choose?
Moving on to the question of focusing on a specific cause area/topic or EA in general.
To some extent I agree with you. I think the possible upside of a documentary regarding the core ideas of EA is larger than the upside of a documentary on a certain cause area. However, I also believe that the possible downside is bigger. And being very risk averse with the EA brand, and not sure that a documentary could induce inclination along with awareness, I feel very hesitant to promote an explicit EA documentary. Here I think it is important to consider the telephone game effect and, to my impression, bad experiences from early mass media outreach on the general concept of effective altruism. Further, I feel we should not be in too much of a hurry with getting people on board with EA, as premature mass communication/recruitment could lower the long term potential.
That being said, I do believe something like “a big Cosmos-style TV series” (like you mention in your next comment), would be relevant further down the line. It seems such an effort would allow for greater breadth (how many ideas one can explore) and depth (how much nuance one can add to the ideas). Also, I think it makes sense to learn from doing other documentaries first.
One thing I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on is something in between. Let’s say a documentary about longtermism that really focuses on central EA ideas, without being EA branded. Do you think that would be more impactful than a documentary on a more specific cause area? Or do you think the documentary must be “EA branded”?
Speaking only for myself and not my co-author, but my spontaneous reaction to your reply is that I agree with what you are saying regarding that this (an EA mindset documentary) would be what would stand out the most among the content that is already out there.
My feeling is still that EA movement would be very opposed to this? My perception has always been that there is such a large emphasis on nuanced communication regarding EA and a preference to always err on the side of caution regarding any “promotion” of the EA movement. Maybe what would be better would be something extremely well produced on the power of rational thinking, that also mentions the EA movement as an interesting movement that has come out of this way of viewing the world?
Definitely agree about Cosmos being an amazing model for what high quality content is possible to produce and make accessible to a wider audience. It really manages to balance the entertainment part with the informative part. I also think Cosmos is a good case for really aiming high and for the possibilities a big budget can open up for a production in terms of quality and reach.