Speaking from my perspective as someone who has researched Soviet civic engagement, I’m curious if it would be good to tie EA to existing Russian cultural ideas. For example, the idea of “going to the people” might be useful. This sort of cultural translation is what is being tried right now in translating EA to Muslim norms of giving to charity. Also, have you worked with the sizable LessWrong community in Moscow? They might be particularly amenable to EA. I can put you in touch with the group leader there if you’re not, email me at gleb@intentionalinsights.org
I don’t think “going to the people” would be a wise idea at this moment. EA at its core is much more fit for intelligentsia than for peasants (going by Narodniks termonology), and we need this core to stay strong, in my opinion.
Also, I am the leader of the Moscow LessWrong community, actually.
I’m assuming you meant Yuliy? If so, he still maintains the lesswrong.ru website and a public page on vk.com, but he disengaged from the community and LW meetups a few years ago.
Oh, I didn’t mean “going to the people” as an activity, but a cultural tradition of valuing the masses. Namely, get to that part of the intelligentsia that values such activities, and show that EA is actually a great way to achieve their goal of valuing human beings in the most effective way possible (and later perhaps expand to other sentient beings).
Ah, didn’t know about Yuliy’s disengagement. Thanks for updating me about that.
Speaking from my perspective as someone who has researched Soviet civic engagement, I’m curious if it would be good to tie EA to existing Russian cultural ideas. For example, the idea of “going to the people” might be useful. This sort of cultural translation is what is being tried right now in translating EA to Muslim norms of giving to charity. Also, have you worked with the sizable LessWrong community in Moscow? They might be particularly amenable to EA. I can put you in touch with the group leader there if you’re not, email me at gleb@intentionalinsights.org
I don’t think “going to the people” would be a wise idea at this moment. EA at its core is much more fit for intelligentsia than for peasants (going by Narodniks termonology), and we need this core to stay strong, in my opinion.
Also, I am the leader of the Moscow LessWrong community, actually. I’m assuming you meant Yuliy? If so, he still maintains the lesswrong.ru website and a public page on vk.com, but he disengaged from the community and LW meetups a few years ago.
Oh, I didn’t mean “going to the people” as an activity, but a cultural tradition of valuing the masses. Namely, get to that part of the intelligentsia that values such activities, and show that EA is actually a great way to achieve their goal of valuing human beings in the most effective way possible (and later perhaps expand to other sentient beings).
Ah, didn’t know about Yuliy’s disengagement. Thanks for updating me about that.