“exiled from community” is a bit too harsh, no? This edit is an excellent example of why one should not judge too quickly, or rather we as a community should not be too quick to judge. When SBF was able to contribute, we said SBF was a poster boy for earning to give; now, we say no one should even associate. We need to learn to slow down and listen deeply before we judge.
Jayasimha Nuggehalli
Karma: 52
I have seen a growing trend among EAs disregarding the law and due process. I have also been told not to be a legal alarmist when I have raised concerns about how a prog, event or grant is administered. I will not get into specific examples, but I think a culture where the thought process is ” law and procedure should not come in the way of doing good ” or ’let’s weigh the risk of not following v/s the possible good” creates a situation where decisions are made with brashness. I think the situation with SBF is less to do with thoroughly thought-out fraud to more with brash decisions being made.
We have created demigods in the EA world, which set the tone and tenor of how things are done. This event with FTX is a good reminder for us as a community to reset.
I agree—I sympathise with the people who lost the money, and I can see them being furious after reading this article. People have different methods of dealing with stress, some binge eats, and some play video games. Still, I think we as a community need to be more compassionate towards SBF and provide him with the legal right to be treated as innocent until proven guilty.
These are some links to podcast links aimed at children that touch on EA topics.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1018843/episodes/9252374 -Meet Vaidehi Agarwalla—An Effective Altruism Community Builder
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1018843/episodes/8940898 Meet Wanyi Zeng—The Executive Director of Effective Altruism Singapore
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1018843/episodes/3754505
Meet Elissa Lane—A Farm Animal Welfare Expert
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1018843/episodes/4040834 Meet Abhay Rangan—A man dedicated to make plant based milk affordable and accessible
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1018843/episodes/3950246 Meet Varun Deshpande—A man on a mission for smart food systems
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1018843/episodes/3858503 Meet Manjunath—A Free-range egg farmer
This is the general link to the podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/curious-vedanth/id1508532011
I will still push back on “exiled from community”—it almost makes it seem like EA is a cult, which I hope it’s not.