Leverage Research describes itself as a nonprofit research institute that conducts research in early stage science. However, Leverage Research has been credibly accused of serious wrongdoing[1][2] and has been described by the rationalist blogger Ozy Brennan as a “cult”[3] and by a pseudonymous LessWrong poster as having the characteristics of a “high-demand group”, which is a technical term for a cult.[4] The belief that Leverage Research is a cult or high-demand group is widely held in the effective altruism community.[5]
Leverage Research has a sister organization called Paradigm Academy. Paradigm describes itself as providing training to individuals and incubates startups.[6]
Funding
As of June 2022, Leverage Research has received $80,000 in funding from the Survival and Flourishing Fund.[7]
Further reading
BayAreaHuman (2021) Common knowledge facts about Leverage Research 1.0, LessWrong, September 24.
Rowe, Larissa (2021) Updates from Leverage Research: history and recent progress, LessWrong, September 27.
Zoe Curzi (2021) My Experience with Leverage Research, Medium, October 13.
External links
Leverage Research. Official website.
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Evans, Jon. Extropia’s Children, Chapter 2: This Demon-Haunted World. https://aiascendant.com/p/extropias-children-chapter-2-demon-haunted-world.
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Curzi, Zoe. “My Experience with Leverage Research.” Medium, 23 Aug. 2024, https://medium.com/@zoecurzi/my-experience-with-leverage-research-17e96a8e540b.
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Brennan, Ozy. Why Are There So Many Rationalist Cults? Asterisk Magazine, https://asteriskmag.com/issues/11/why-are-there-so-many-rationalist-cults.
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BayAreaHuman. “Common knowledge about Leverage Research 1.0.” LessWrong, 24 Sept. 2021, https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Kz9zMgWB5C27Pmdkh/common-knowledge-about-leverage-research-1-0.
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Carey, Ryan. Comment on “Where Would I Find the Hardcore Totalizing Segment of EA?” Effective Altruism Forum, 30 Dec. 2023, https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/gDHWC7WefiYSjeTC3/where-would-i-find-the-hardcore-totalizing-segment-of-ea?commentId=FeWsbGDoZkwqEBzJC.
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Survival and Flourishing Fund (2019) SFF-2020-H1 S-process recommendations announcement, Survival and Flourishing Fund.