Reading your suggested required readings, S-risks: An introduction and S-risk FAQ, I don’t get a clear sense of why s-risks are plausible or why the suggested interventions are useful. I like S-risks: Why they are the worst existential risks, and how to prevent them (EAG Boston 2017) a bit more for illustrating why they are plausible, and I’ve added it as an optional reading in the uni chapter intro program I’m running. Unfortunately, it doesn’t give more than a cursory overview of how s-risks could be reduced. I’d be hesitant about making an s-risk reading a required reading though since I don’t know about high-quality intro-level material about s-risks for participants to learn more. I also expect that s-risks might provoke a lot of discussion, so we would want to make sure discussion facilitators have the resources to be well-informed about the issues. Right now, I wouldn’t feel confident discussing s-risks with intro program participants.
By the way, if you want to make your suggestions as easy as possible to add it to the curriculum, you should also suggest discussion questions that facilitators can ask about the topic.
(Note: I’m not in charge of the EA Virtual Programs syllabus.)
Reading your suggested required readings, S-risks: An introduction and S-risk FAQ, I don’t get a clear sense of why s-risks are plausible or why the suggested interventions are useful. I like S-risks: Why they are the worst existential risks, and how to prevent them (EAG Boston 2017) a bit more for illustrating why they are plausible, and I’ve added it as an optional reading in the uni chapter intro program I’m running. Unfortunately, it doesn’t give more than a cursory overview of how s-risks could be reduced. I’d be hesitant about making an s-risk reading a required reading though since I don’t know about high-quality intro-level material about s-risks for participants to learn more. I also expect that s-risks might provoke a lot of discussion, so we would want to make sure discussion facilitators have the resources to be well-informed about the issues. Right now, I wouldn’t feel confident discussing s-risks with intro program participants.
By the way, if you want to make your suggestions as easy as possible to add it to the curriculum, you should also suggest discussion questions that facilitators can ask about the topic.
(Note: I’m not in charge of the EA Virtual Programs syllabus.)