I agree that 5 is an EA failure mode (I’m on the obsequious / sycophant side, I’m a bit cowardly and think being “fully transparent” about your values often leads to unproductive conflict)
Zoe actually said the opposite:
being overly obsequious (rarely a failure mode among EAs from my observation, but definitely among the performative feminist males)
But I also misread her at first in the same you did, so maybe that means something.
I think there’s actually a mix of both problems in EA when it comes to talking about EA to people outside EA (which is the context Zoe was talking about). There are people being overly indirect or sheepish, and people being too combative and rude. I don’t think the solution is to “balance” the two, as if they exist on a number line, but something more complex. Which is how to be both confident and forthright, on the one hand, and respectful and gentle, on the other hand.
Zoe actually said the opposite:
But I also misread her at first in the same you did, so maybe that means something.
I think there’s actually a mix of both problems in EA when it comes to talking about EA to people outside EA (which is the context Zoe was talking about). There are people being overly indirect or sheepish, and people being too combative and rude. I don’t think the solution is to “balance” the two, as if they exist on a number line, but something more complex. Which is how to be both confident and forthright, on the one hand, and respectful and gentle, on the other hand.