[I think the disagreements we have here donât matter much. That said...]
I think the point about suspicious convergence is correct. I also think itâs very reasonable to claim that B. Obamaâs memoir will be more useful to the average EA than many of the things on my listâespecially the things which are rated as below average usefulness to me.
But I still think itâs worth saying âmore valuable to the average EAâ rather than âclearly more valuable from an EA perspectiveâ. One reason is related to precisely the point about intellectual/âworldview homogeneity and echo chambers which you highlighted; I think we should be careful about saying things that could easily sound to people like âall EAs should do Xâ.
(This is also related to issues like 80k highlighting a career pathway or problem area as particularly important on the margin on average, and there sometimes being an overreaction to this, including people switching out of other good paths towards this new path that isnât a good fit for them. My impression is that 80k is now more careful to add caveats and stuff to reduce how much this happens.
Of course, the stakes are far lower for a Forum comment, about books rather than careers, deep into a very large thread!)
I agree that youâve emphasized that your list should not be taken as authoritative in several places. Yet I stand by my claim that one can reasonably interpret Foster Wallace and other titles further down the list as recommended reading.
Iâve emphasised not just that itâs not authoritative but also that itâs ânot quite a list of book recommendationsâ, and that it includes things I didnât find useful. I think itâs plausible that someone could interpret the bottom ranked book as a recommendation, but not that that would be reasonableâtheyâd have to have ignored text right near the top and right below that recommendation.
[I think the disagreements we have here donât matter much. That said...]
I think the point about suspicious convergence is correct. I also think itâs very reasonable to claim that B. Obamaâs memoir will be more useful to the average EA than many of the things on my listâespecially the things which are rated as below average usefulness to me.
But I still think itâs worth saying âmore valuable to the average EAâ rather than âclearly more valuable from an EA perspectiveâ. One reason is related to precisely the point about intellectual/âworldview homogeneity and echo chambers which you highlighted; I think we should be careful about saying things that could easily sound to people like âall EAs should do Xâ.
(This is also related to issues like 80k highlighting a career pathway or problem area as particularly important on the margin on average, and there sometimes being an overreaction to this, including people switching out of other good paths towards this new path that isnât a good fit for them. My impression is that 80k is now more careful to add caveats and stuff to reduce how much this happens.
Of course, the stakes are far lower for a Forum comment, about books rather than careers, deep into a very large thread!)
Iâve emphasised not just that itâs not authoritative but also that itâs ânot quite a list of book recommendationsâ, and that it includes things I didnât find useful. I think itâs plausible that someone could interpret the bottom ranked book as a recommendation, but not that that would be reasonableâtheyâd have to have ignored text right near the top and right below that recommendation.