Thanks, Lizka, for highlighting these comments! I’d really like to see others in the EA community, and especially leaders of EA orgs, engage more in public conversations about how EA should change in light of the FTX collapse and other recent events.
I think the events of the last few months should lead us to think carefully about whether future efforts inspired by EA ideas might cause significant harm or turn out to be net-negative in expectation, after accounting for downside risks. I’d like to see leaders and other community members talking much more concretely about how organizations’ governance structures, leadership teams, cultural norms, and project portfolios should change to reduce the risk of causing unintended harm.
Holden’s reflections collected here, Toby Ord’s recent address at EAG, and Oliver Habryka’s comments explaining the decision to close the Lightcone Offices feel to me like first steps in the right direction, but I’d really like to see other leaders, including Will MacAskill and Nick Beckstead, join the public conversation. I’d especially like to see these and other leaders identify the broad changes they would like to see in the community, commit to specific actions they will take, and respond to others’ proposals for reform. (For the reasons Jason explains here, I don’t think the ongoing investigation presents any necessary legal impediment to Will or Nick speaking now, and waiting at least another two months to join the conversation seems harmful to the community’s ability to make good decisions about potential paths forward.)
My guess is that leaders’ relative silence on these topics is harming the EA community’s ability to make a positive difference in the world. I and others I know have been taking steps back from the EA community over the past several months, partly because many leaders haven’t been engaging in public conversations about potential changes that seem urgently necessary. I’ve personally lost much of the confidence I once had in the ability of the EA community’s leaders, institutions, and cultural norms to manage risks of serious harm that can result from trying to put EA ideas into practice. I’m now uncertain about whether engaging with the EA community is the right way for me to spend time and energy going forward. I think leaders of EA orgs can help restore confidence and chart a better course by starting or joining substantive, public conversations about concrete steps toward reform.
(To end on a personal note: I’ve been feeling pretty discouraged over the last few months, but in the spirit of Leaning into EA Disillusionment, I aim to write more on this topic soon. I hope others will, too.)
Thanks, Lizka, for highlighting these comments! I’d really like to see others in the EA community, and especially leaders of EA orgs, engage more in public conversations about how EA should change in light of the FTX collapse and other recent events.
I think the events of the last few months should lead us to think carefully about whether future efforts inspired by EA ideas might cause significant harm or turn out to be net-negative in expectation, after accounting for downside risks. I’d like to see leaders and other community members talking much more concretely about how organizations’ governance structures, leadership teams, cultural norms, and project portfolios should change to reduce the risk of causing unintended harm.
Holden’s reflections collected here, Toby Ord’s recent address at EAG, and Oliver Habryka’s comments explaining the decision to close the Lightcone Offices feel to me like first steps in the right direction, but I’d really like to see other leaders, including Will MacAskill and Nick Beckstead, join the public conversation. I’d especially like to see these and other leaders identify the broad changes they would like to see in the community, commit to specific actions they will take, and respond to others’ proposals for reform. (For the reasons Jason explains here, I don’t think the ongoing investigation presents any necessary legal impediment to Will or Nick speaking now, and waiting at least another two months to join the conversation seems harmful to the community’s ability to make good decisions about potential paths forward.)
My guess is that leaders’ relative silence on these topics is harming the EA community’s ability to make a positive difference in the world. I and others I know have been taking steps back from the EA community over the past several months, partly because many leaders haven’t been engaging in public conversations about potential changes that seem urgently necessary. I’ve personally lost much of the confidence I once had in the ability of the EA community’s leaders, institutions, and cultural norms to manage risks of serious harm that can result from trying to put EA ideas into practice. I’m now uncertain about whether engaging with the EA community is the right way for me to spend time and energy going forward. I think leaders of EA orgs can help restore confidence and chart a better course by starting or joining substantive, public conversations about concrete steps toward reform.
(To end on a personal note: I’ve been feeling pretty discouraged over the last few months, but in the spirit of Leaning into EA Disillusionment, I aim to write more on this topic soon. I hope others will, too.)