Great post. I totally agree with the framing of meritocratic vs inclusive orgs and their inherent tension. It may be an awkward analogy but EA is more or less a modern religion and religion has already figured out how to navigate this dynamic.
Basically you have churches as the inclusive geographic community center where believers come on a regular basis. There’s a sermon to reaffirm and bring perspective to their faith/ideology. There’s art in multiple forms such as music, sculpture to connect at an emotional level. There’s rituals to lend weight to belief and most importantly you have a community of peers who share the same values that you can socialize amongst.
I think there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from this history on how to build widespread movements. As you’ve identified EA needs these home bases where people can stay connected to the movement, even as they pursue careers that aren’t strictly EA.
I really liked the visual/story description you gave for what joining a group could look like; I really appreciate how memorable an idea can be when presented in that style. In that story, I also recognized the way I’ve felt in many of my interactions with the EA community thus far, which makes me wonder whether I’ve gotten a skewed sense for what “most EA circles” spend time on.
I’ve been a part of four different EA groups, three of which were more focused around social activity than anything cerebral (Madison, San Diego, Yale). The exception (EA Epic, a corporate group) had members who lived far apart, mostly existed during a Wisconsin fall/winter, and always met after workdays, which made planning social activities a bit harder. But my general sense is that most EA groups actually are fairly social/inclusive in the way you propose.
(This may be part of why we’re seen as quite welcoming, though survey bias is likely a stronger factor in that case.)
How much time groups spend on cerebral/meritocratic vs. social/inclusive activities might be a good thing to figure out through the EA Survey; I’ll suggest it as a potential topic for this year.
Great post. I totally agree with the framing of meritocratic vs inclusive orgs and their inherent tension. It may be an awkward analogy but EA is more or less a modern religion and religion has already figured out how to navigate this dynamic.
Basically you have churches as the inclusive geographic community center where believers come on a regular basis. There’s a sermon to reaffirm and bring perspective to their faith/ideology. There’s art in multiple forms such as music, sculpture to connect at an emotional level. There’s rituals to lend weight to belief and most importantly you have a community of peers who share the same values that you can socialize amongst.
I think there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from this history on how to build widespread movements. As you’ve identified EA needs these home bases where people can stay connected to the movement, even as they pursue careers that aren’t strictly EA.
I really liked the visual/story description you gave for what joining a group could look like; I really appreciate how memorable an idea can be when presented in that style. In that story, I also recognized the way I’ve felt in many of my interactions with the EA community thus far, which makes me wonder whether I’ve gotten a skewed sense for what “most EA circles” spend time on.
I’ve been a part of four different EA groups, three of which were more focused around social activity than anything cerebral (Madison, San Diego, Yale). The exception (EA Epic, a corporate group) had members who lived far apart, mostly existed during a Wisconsin fall/winter, and always met after workdays, which made planning social activities a bit harder. But my general sense is that most EA groups actually are fairly social/inclusive in the way you propose.
(This may be part of why we’re seen as quite welcoming, though survey bias is likely a stronger factor in that case.)
How much time groups spend on cerebral/meritocratic vs. social/inclusive activities might be a good thing to figure out through the EA Survey; I’ll suggest it as a potential topic for this year.