It’s worth noting that the 2017 EA Survey (data collected but not yet published), the 2015 EA Survey, and the 2014 EA Survey all have global poverty as the most popular cause (by plurality) among EAs in these samples, and by a good sized margin. So it may not be the case that the EA movement is misrepresenting itself as a movement by focusing on global poverty (even if movement leaders may think differently than the movement as a whole).
Still, it is indeed the case that causes other than global poverty are more popular than global poverty, which would potentially argue for a more diverse presentation on what EA is about as you suggest.
I was aware of this and I think this is interesting. This was the sort of thing I had in mind when considering that EA orgs/leaders may have a different concept of what matters from non-institutional EAs.
I think this is also nicely in tension with Ben Todd’s comments above. There’s something strange about 80k leaning on the far future as mattering and most EAs wanting to help living people.
It’s worth noting that the 2017 EA Survey (data collected but not yet published), the 2015 EA Survey, and the 2014 EA Survey all have global poverty as the most popular cause (by plurality) among EAs in these samples, and by a good sized margin. So it may not be the case that the EA movement is misrepresenting itself as a movement by focusing on global poverty (even if movement leaders may think differently than the movement as a whole).
Still, it is indeed the case that causes other than global poverty are more popular than global poverty, which would potentially argue for a more diverse presentation on what EA is about as you suggest.
I was aware of this and I think this is interesting. This was the sort of thing I had in mind when considering that EA orgs/leaders may have a different concept of what matters from non-institutional EAs.
I think this is also nicely in tension with Ben Todd’s comments above. There’s something strange about 80k leaning on the far future as mattering and most EAs wanting to help living people.
And, as Michael says, even the perception that EA is misrepresenting itself could potentially be harmful.