Any discussion of the Munich cancellation as a potential indicator of “norms” should probably note that there are hundreds of talks by interesting thinkers each year at EA conferences/meetups around the world. At least, people I’d consider interesting, even if they don’t come into conflict with social norms as regularly as Robin.
On a graph of “controversial x connection to EA,” Robin is in the top corner (that is, I can’t think of anyone who is both at least as controversial and at least as connected to EA, other than maybe Peter Singer). So all these other talks may not say much about our “norm” for handling controversial speakers. But based on the organizers I know, I’d be surprised if most other EA groups (especially the bigger/more experienced ones) would have disinvited Robin.
In terms of your own feelings about contributing/collaborating in EA, do you think sentiments like those of the Munich group are common? It seems like their decision was widely criticized by lots of people in EA (even those who, like me, defended their right to make the decision/empathized with their plight while saying it was the wrong move), and supported by very few. If anything, I updated from this incident in the direction of “wow, EA people are even more opposed to ‘cancel culture’ than I expected.”
Any discussion of the Munich cancellation as a potential indicator of “norms” should probably note that there are hundreds of talks by interesting thinkers each year at EA conferences/meetups around the world. At least, people I’d consider interesting, even if they don’t come into conflict with social norms as regularly as Robin.
On a graph of “controversial x connection to EA,” Robin is in the top corner (that is, I can’t think of anyone who is both at least as controversial and at least as connected to EA, other than maybe Peter Singer). So all these other talks may not say much about our “norm” for handling controversial speakers. But based on the organizers I know, I’d be surprised if most other EA groups (especially the bigger/more experienced ones) would have disinvited Robin.
In terms of your own feelings about contributing/collaborating in EA, do you think sentiments like those of the Munich group are common? It seems like their decision was widely criticized by lots of people in EA (even those who, like me, defended their right to make the decision/empathized with their plight while saying it was the wrong move), and supported by very few. If anything, I updated from this incident in the direction of “wow, EA people are even more opposed to ‘cancel culture’ than I expected.”