Eric,
I really like the article you wrote. It’s to the point while still being clever and enjoyable to read. I think that sort of writing represents the EA community in the best light. What has been the response within the HBS community? How is your student group going?
I think Bill has the same goal, but maybe the execution didn’t work out as well. I am not as familiar with the law culture as I am the business culture, but it seems like there was a bit more “down talking” in his article, intended or not, and that may have ruffled some feathers. I’m not sure that is an entirely bad thing, as there is some part of the EA message that is inherently challenging to many people. There is certainly a way to present it—as you did in your first article—that presents the reader with an opportunity to change the world rather than an indictment of their shortcomings.
Increasing awareness of the movement is important, but increasing positive inclination is at least comparably important. Therefore we should generally:o prefer advocacy to publicity;
o strive to take acts which are seen as good by societal standards as well as for the movement;
o avoid hostility or needless controversy.
I agree with his sentiments, and I think it is very important for young movements such as EA to present ideas in as positive a light as possible, which is very easy for EA to do considering that our goal is to essentially do as much good as possible.
Thanks Zack. The grad student group I co-founded, Harvard University Effective Altruism, is going well. We have a leadership team in place for next year that covers the Law School, Business School, School of Public Health, and School of Arts & Sciences. Our events with Cass Sunstein and Derek Parfit each drew over 100 people.
Interestingly, my article did generate some interest outside of HBS, as a number of people emailed me about it, but it didn’t provoke any discussion within HBS. I think it’s because my article wasn’t controversial enough; if I had to do it again, I would have pushed harder.
Eric, I really like the article you wrote. It’s to the point while still being clever and enjoyable to read. I think that sort of writing represents the EA community in the best light. What has been the response within the HBS community? How is your student group going?
I think Bill has the same goal, but maybe the execution didn’t work out as well. I am not as familiar with the law culture as I am the business culture, but it seems like there was a bit more “down talking” in his article, intended or not, and that may have ruffled some feathers. I’m not sure that is an entirely bad thing, as there is some part of the EA message that is inherently challenging to many people. There is certainly a way to present it—as you did in your first article—that presents the reader with an opportunity to change the world rather than an indictment of their shortcomings.
Edit to add: I think Owen Cotton-Barratt’s paper recently posted on this forum (http://effective-altruism.com/ea/is/how_valuable_is_movement_growth/) makes a very relevant point:
Increasing awareness of the movement is important, but increasing positive inclination is at least comparably important. Therefore we should generally: o prefer advocacy to publicity;
o strive to take acts which are seen as good by societal standards as well as for the movement;
o avoid hostility or needless controversy.
I agree with his sentiments, and I think it is very important for young movements such as EA to present ideas in as positive a light as possible, which is very easy for EA to do considering that our goal is to essentially do as much good as possible.
Thanks Zack. The grad student group I co-founded, Harvard University Effective Altruism, is going well. We have a leadership team in place for next year that covers the Law School, Business School, School of Public Health, and School of Arts & Sciences. Our events with Cass Sunstein and Derek Parfit each drew over 100 people.
Interestingly, my article did generate some interest outside of HBS, as a number of people emailed me about it, but it didn’t provoke any discussion within HBS. I think it’s because my article wasn’t controversial enough; if I had to do it again, I would have pushed harder.