I think an attitude of irreplaceablity can be dangerous: someone could easily make the mistake of thinking that bad apples need to be protected and covered up for in order to preserve the movement as a whole. (I certainly hope nobody thinks this way here, but this has happened before in other movements).
In truth, the ideas aren’t going away. Individual people can be replaced, and new groups can form in the event of a blowup. Try and fix the culture, sure, but if it’s too far gone, don’t be afraid to blow the whistle and blow it up, in the long term it’s healthier.
What does “blow it up” mean for an EA who decides the culture is beyond fixing, but who doesn’t have significant power within the community? Is it leaving the community in search for a better one to do good in?
Pretty much, yeah, along with exposing bad actors if you judge it safe to do so. There are plenty of non-EA orgs doing work that is effective, you can work them them and try and bring in principles of effectiveness.
Also toxic communities are inherently unsustainable, eventually enough people will leave that a splinter group can be made.
I think an attitude of irreplaceablity can be dangerous: someone could easily make the mistake of thinking that bad apples need to be protected and covered up for in order to preserve the movement as a whole. (I certainly hope nobody thinks this way here, but this has happened before in other movements).
In truth, the ideas aren’t going away. Individual people can be replaced, and new groups can form in the event of a blowup. Try and fix the culture, sure, but if it’s too far gone, don’t be afraid to blow the whistle and blow it up, in the long term it’s healthier.
What does “blow it up” mean for an EA who decides the culture is beyond fixing, but who doesn’t have significant power within the community? Is it leaving the community in search for a better one to do good in?
Pretty much, yeah, along with exposing bad actors if you judge it safe to do so. There are plenty of non-EA orgs doing work that is effective, you can work them them and try and bring in principles of effectiveness.
Also toxic communities are inherently unsustainable, eventually enough people will leave that a splinter group can be made.