“They tell you to do your thing but they don’t mean it. They don’t want you to do your own thing, not unless it happens to be their thing, too. It’s a laugh, Goober, a fake. Don’t disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say.”—Robert Cormier, the Chocolate War
Yes, we should. People hesitate or are averse to bringing issues up with authorities/communities due to fears of being punished. As groups collectivize and become increasingly memetically homogeneous, that which coincides with the solidification of power/influence/financial structures and hierarchies, dissent of any form becomes decreasingly tolerated. It becomes safer/easier to criticize EA as an outsider than as member who simultaneously want to grow in EA, be well received by potential EA organization employers, and rise up the oft unstated hierarchies that developed as EA blossomed.
Until this debacle, SBF was lionized beyond comparison by the major community organizations. And moreover, he was closely associated with EA giants via the foundation/future fund and other projects. He had excellent PR presence due to the constant EA affiliated media attention. He was 80k’s paragon of earning to give.
That’s not to say figures like him were untouchable (nothing in EA is untouchable fortunately), but criticizing the most popular embodiment of success would result in online backlash at best or at worst, damage to the critic’s career capital. In a situation similar to Stuart’s, that is precisely why Sven’s essay on conflicts of interest in EA was anonymous. It’s also why it didn’t even get honorable mention in the essay competition. Even if the criticisms themselves were valid and justified, the PR risks of promoting dissent made sure it wasn’t given a prize. Demands for greater transparency or accountability from EA vanguards in the wake of recent developments may also be viewed instinctively or intuitively as threats to harmony.
Not everyone enjoys having beloved paragons and prophets criticized. Not everyone likes having their faith or trust in institutions shattered, let alone challenged. Not everyone maintains a cynical, skeptical attitude towards those in authority positions. During EA training newcomers certainly aren’t prepared for such developments, perhaps because events like such are not expected to ever come up in the first place.
It remains a problem the community has faced since day one, although much of it is attributable due to hierarchical and tribalistic human psychology rather than EA itself. While EA has better epistemics and remains more open to criticisms than the average ideological movement, harshness or cynical sternness, used to be (in EA’s early days), much more commonplace and welcomed than it is now. As EA has grown and become more of a community, intra-group harmonic cohesion became increasingly prized and promoted. Those who elicit controversy by means of intellectual dissent (rather than conforming) are at a higher likelihood of being downvoted.
Spouting off this stuff isn’t productive on my end. I don’t have a solution, but there needs to be better ways to increase reception towards contrarian/unpopular takes, minimizing unjustified repercussions for dissenters. Those who are harshest or most skeptical among EAs should not be dismissed as impediments to progress. I have faith EA has the capacity to ameliorate this.
By the way, it looks like the comment is now heavily upvoted. I’ve seen this happen quite a few times, so it seems like it might be good to withhold judgment about the net votes for a day or two. But of course it could be that it became highly upvoted because of reactions like this, so I’m not sure what the best course of action is.
“They tell you to do your thing but they don’t mean it. They don’t want you to do your own thing, not unless it happens to be their thing, too. It’s a laugh, Goober, a fake. Don’t disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say.”—Robert Cormier, the Chocolate War
Yes, we should. People hesitate or are averse to bringing issues up with authorities/communities due to fears of being punished. As groups collectivize and become increasingly memetically homogeneous, that which coincides with the solidification of power/influence/financial structures and hierarchies, dissent of any form becomes decreasingly tolerated. It becomes safer/easier to criticize EA as an outsider than as member who simultaneously want to grow in EA, be well received by potential EA organization employers, and rise up the oft unstated hierarchies that developed as EA blossomed.
Until this debacle, SBF was lionized beyond comparison by the major community organizations. And moreover, he was closely associated with EA giants via the foundation/future fund and other projects. He had excellent PR presence due to the constant EA affiliated media attention. He was 80k’s paragon of earning to give.
That’s not to say figures like him were untouchable (nothing in EA is untouchable fortunately), but criticizing the most popular embodiment of success would result in online backlash at best or at worst, damage to the critic’s career capital. In a situation similar to Stuart’s, that is precisely why Sven’s essay on conflicts of interest in EA was anonymous. It’s also why it didn’t even get honorable mention in the essay competition. Even if the criticisms themselves were valid and justified, the PR risks of promoting dissent made sure it wasn’t given a prize. Demands for greater transparency or accountability from EA vanguards in the wake of recent developments may also be viewed instinctively or intuitively as threats to harmony.
Not everyone enjoys having beloved paragons and prophets criticized. Not everyone likes having their faith or trust in institutions shattered, let alone challenged. Not everyone maintains a cynical, skeptical attitude towards those in authority positions. During EA training newcomers certainly aren’t prepared for such developments, perhaps because events like such are not expected to ever come up in the first place.
It remains a problem the community has faced since day one, although much of it is attributable due to hierarchical and tribalistic human psychology rather than EA itself. While EA has better epistemics and remains more open to criticisms than the average ideological movement, harshness or cynical sternness, used to be (in EA’s early days), much more commonplace and welcomed than it is now. As EA has grown and become more of a community, intra-group harmonic cohesion became increasingly prized and promoted. Those who elicit controversy by means of intellectual dissent (rather than conforming) are at a higher likelihood of being downvoted.
Spouting off this stuff isn’t productive on my end. I don’t have a solution, but there needs to be better ways to increase reception towards contrarian/unpopular takes, minimizing unjustified repercussions for dissenters. Those who are harshest or most skeptical among EAs should not be dismissed as impediments to progress. I have faith EA has the capacity to ameliorate this.
By the way, it looks like the comment is now heavily upvoted. I’ve seen this happen quite a few times, so it seems like it might be good to withhold judgment about the net votes for a day or two. But of course it could be that it became highly upvoted because of reactions like this, so I’m not sure what the best course of action is.