I think it’s plausible that this purchase saves money, but I strongly disagree with your view of optics.
“think it’s better to let decisions be guided less by what we think looks good, and more by what we think is good”
What looks good has important effects on EA community building, the diffusion of EA ideas and on the ability to promote EA ideas in politics, especially over the longer term.
Whether a decision looks good, i.e, the indirect, long term effects of the decision on EA’s reputation, is a very important factor on determining on whether a decision is good, i.e, approximately maximises expected value.
I’m disappointed that someone at CEA / EV thinks it makes sense to put optics aside and entirely focus on the short-term, direct effects of a decision when calculating expected value—also seems weirdly at odds with longtermist thinking!
I think it’s plausible that this purchase saves money, but I strongly disagree with your view of optics.
“think it’s better to let decisions be guided less by what we think looks good, and more by what we think is good”
What looks good has important effects on EA community building, the diffusion of EA ideas and on the ability to promote EA ideas in politics, especially over the longer term.
Whether a decision looks good, i.e, the indirect, long term effects of the decision on EA’s reputation, is a very important factor on determining on whether a decision is good, i.e, approximately maximises expected value.
I’m disappointed that someone at CEA / EV thinks it makes sense to put optics aside and entirely focus on the short-term, direct effects of a decision when calculating expected value—also seems weirdly at odds with longtermist thinking!