First of all I would be careful about seeking to refute all criticisms—I think we should a priory be agnostic whether it is true or not. We can then after carefully investigating the criticism see if there is work to do for us, or if we should seek to refute it. Something else would be in stark opposition to the very principles we might seek to defend. To that end, another source of criticism which for some reason often is not cast as that is the community health surveys—this is insiders’ largest problems with the ideas and more frequently various aspects of the community. To quote the latest such survey with excellent and careful analysis:
Reasons for dissatisfaction with EA:
A number of factors were cited a similar number of times by respondents as Very important reasons for dissatisfaction, among those who provided a reason: Cause prioritization (22%), Leadership (20%), Justice, Equity, Inclusion and Diversity (JEID, 19%), Scandals (18%) and excessive Focus on AI / x-risk / longtermism (16%).
Including mentions of Important (12%) and Slightly important (7%) factors, JEID was the most commonly mentioned factor overall.
First of all I would be careful about seeking to refute all criticisms—I think we should a priory be agnostic whether it is true or not. We can then after carefully investigating the criticism see if there is work to do for us, or if we should seek to refute it. Something else would be in stark opposition to the very principles we might seek to defend. To that end, another source of criticism which for some reason often is not cast as that is the community health surveys—this is insiders’ largest problems with the ideas and more frequently various aspects of the community. To quote the latest such survey with excellent and careful analysis: