I really liked this post, and I felt like I understood both characters’ views super well. I feel like this type of writing often makes one character a strawman, but I didn’t feel that at all in this case. Great job!
OllieBase
Karma: 4,634
The Centre for Effective Altruism is spinning out of the Centre for Effective Altruism
Celebrating EAGxLatAm and EAGxIndia
On absurdity
Save the Date: EAGxMars
Longtermists are perceived as power-seeking
Apply to attend EA conferences in Europe
Grantmaking is more like a skill than a path
Upcoming EA conferences in 2024
Things usually end slowly
Apply for CEA event support
Upcoming EA conferences in 2023
CEA is winding down the Community Events grantmaking programme
I say this at EAGx events and in various posts, but I still don’t think I say it enough: running EAGx events is a huge amount of work, and most of this work is done by dedicated and hard-working EA community members and national group staff. My colleagues and I support these teams, but I think we get too much credit.
I’m continuously impressed by EAGx teams; their thoughtfulness, their focus on impact and the sheer amount of effort they put into ensuring these events go well (and they do). There’s not been a team I haven’t enjoyed working with.
I think there’s more I could do to make working on EAGx events more enjoyable/efficient/worthwhile, but at the very least I want to be extremely open about my (and CEA’s) gratitude towards these people for all they do, have done and will do.
Applications to EAGxBerlin, EAGxAustralia and EAGxPhilippines are open, and Berlin closes tonight. (Adding this because these teams would probably rather I promote their events than just thank them)
This needs to be discussed internally, but I think a better description is Cooperative with EA (CEA)
I’ve only been at CEA for the last ~quarter of Max’s tenure but it’s hard to overstate how much I’ve appreciated Max’s humility, his warm nature, his receptivity to feedback and how much he values and appreciates CEA staff in return. I’m really sad to see you go Max—we’ll miss you!
CEA’s Community Events Programme: Update and Call for Applications
This is such devastating news and a huge loss to this community. Sebastian was deeply kind, thoughtful and selfless. He volunteered at several EAGs, and was always generous with his time; my colleagues and I learned of his passing because he was providing input on a project as a favour to us.
Whenever I saw him, and once I’d learned about all the projects he was driving forward, his face would light up as he told me about all the new things his kids had learned or started saying.
I feel very lucky to have known him, and he will be sorely missed by so many.
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve not been following your work closely, but running a new org with very ambitious goals must be challenging, and I appreciate you acknowledging and sharing your mistakes so far. It would be surprising if you hadn’t made a few mistakes at this point. Good luck!
I’m disappointed that much of this document involves attacking the people who’ve accused you of harmful actions, in place of a focus on disputing the evidence they provided (I appreciate that you also do the latter). I also really bounce off the distraction tactics at play here, where you encourage the reader to turn their attention back to the world’s problems. It doesn’t seem like you’ve reflected carefully and calmly about this situation; I don’t see many places where you admit to making mistakes and it doesn’t seem like you’re willing to take ownership of this situation at all.
I don’t have time to engage with all the evidence here, but even if I came away convinced that all of the original claims provided by Ben weren’t backed up, I still feel really uneasy about Nonlinear; uneasy about your work culture, uneasy about how you communicate and argue, and alarmed at how forcefully you attack people who criticise you.