It’s a good question. I’ve thought about this a bit in the past.
One surprising rule is that overall I think people with a criminal record should still be welcome to contribute in many ways. If you’re in prison, I think you should generally be allowed to e.g. submit papers to physics journals, you shouldn’t be precluded from contributing to humanity and science. Similarly, I think giving remote talks and publishing on the EA Forum should not be totally shut off (though likely hampered in some ways) for people who have behaved badly and broken laws. (Obviously different rules apply for hiring them and inviting them to in-person events, where you need to look at the kind of criminal behavior and see if it’s relevant.)
I feel fairly differently to people who have done damage in and to members of the EA community. Someone like Gleb Tsipursky hasn’t even broken any laws and should still be kicked out and not welcomed back for something like 10 years, and even then he probably won’t have changed enough (most people don’t).
In general EA is outcome-oriented, it’s not a hobby community, there’s sh*t that needs to be done because civilization is inadequate and literally everything is still at stake at this point in history. We want the best contributions and care about that to the exemption of people being fun or something. You hire the best person for the job.
There’s some tension there, and I think overall I am personally willing to put in a lot of resources in my outcome-oriented communities to make sure that people who contribute to the mission are given the spaces and help they need to positively contribute.
I can’t think of a good example that isn’t either of a literal person or too abstract… like, suppose Einstein has terrible allergies to most foods, just can’t be in the space as them. Can we have him at EAG? How much work am I willing to put in for him to have a good EAG? Do I have to figure out a way to feed everyone a very exclusive yet wholesome diet that means he can join? Perhaps.
Similarly, if I’m running a physics conference and Einstein is in prison for murder, will I have him in? Again, I’m pretty open to video calls, I’m pretty willing to put in the time to make sure everyone knows what sort of risks he is, and make sure he isn’t allowed to end up in a vulnerable situation with someone, because it’s worth it for our mission to have him contribute.
You get the picture. Y’know, tradeoffs, where you actually value something and are willing to put in extraordinary effort to make it work.
It’s a good question. I’ve thought about this a bit in the past.
One surprising rule is that overall I think people with a criminal record should still be welcome to contribute in many ways. If you’re in prison, I think you should generally be allowed to e.g. submit papers to physics journals, you shouldn’t be precluded from contributing to humanity and science. Similarly, I think giving remote talks and publishing on the EA Forum should not be totally shut off (though likely hampered in some ways) for people who have behaved badly and broken laws. (Obviously different rules apply for hiring them and inviting them to in-person events, where you need to look at the kind of criminal behavior and see if it’s relevant.)
I feel fairly differently to people who have done damage in and to members of the EA community. Someone like Gleb Tsipursky hasn’t even broken any laws and should still be kicked out and not welcomed back for something like 10 years, and even then he probably won’t have changed enough (most people don’t).
In general EA is outcome-oriented, it’s not a hobby community, there’s sh*t that needs to be done because civilization is inadequate and literally everything is still at stake at this point in history. We want the best contributions and care about that to the exemption of people being fun or something. You hire the best person for the job.
There’s some tension there, and I think overall I am personally willing to put in a lot of resources in my outcome-oriented communities to make sure that people who contribute to the mission are given the spaces and help they need to positively contribute.
I can’t think of a good example that isn’t either of a literal person or too abstract… like, suppose Einstein has terrible allergies to most foods, just can’t be in the space as them. Can we have him at EAG? How much work am I willing to put in for him to have a good EAG? Do I have to figure out a way to feed everyone a very exclusive yet wholesome diet that means he can join? Perhaps.
Similarly, if I’m running a physics conference and Einstein is in prison for murder, will I have him in? Again, I’m pretty open to video calls, I’m pretty willing to put in the time to make sure everyone knows what sort of risks he is, and make sure he isn’t allowed to end up in a vulnerable situation with someone, because it’s worth it for our mission to have him contribute.
You get the picture. Y’know, tradeoffs, where you actually value something and are willing to put in extraordinary effort to make it work.