SeanEngelhart

Karma: 72

Studied computer science at UW-Madison. In terms of career paths, AI safety, computer security (possibly for GCR reduction), computational modeling for alternative proteins, general EA-related research, and earning to give are all current options on the table and I’m trying to assess each. Beyond these areas, I have a wide range of interests within EA.

My personal website

Anonymous Feedback Form: If you have any feedback for me on anything and feel inclined to fill out this form, I would very much appreciate it! (idea credit: Michael Aird)

SeanEngelhart 14 May 2021 19:17 UTC
8 points
0 ∶ 0
on: seansre’s Shortform
I just read Forbes’ April/May issue “A New Billionaire Everyday” and it had a blurb on Sam Bankman-Fried (I haven’t been able to find the blurb online, this is just Sam’s bio). Unfortunately, the blurb contained some of the classic mischaracterizations of EA—that it’s all about giving money, that all that matters is cost-effectiveness calculations and quantifiable effects, etc. Granted, I might have been overly sensitive to these kinds of misrepresentations, especially since I read it quickly.

This got me thinking: does EA (maybe the CEA specifically) have any kind of process for reviewing media messaging and trying to prevent these kinds of misrepresentations? I have no clue to what degree EA would be able to shape some of these descriptions, but I’d guess that Sam was contacted by Forbes for the article and was asked some questions. I’d imagine that this back-and-forth could have at least some effect on how EA is portrayed by Forbes (or whatever publication is covering it). So, I’m wondering if some kind of PR group within EA could be a useful resource when members of EA are contacted by the media (or whether this already exists).

SeanEngelhart 15 May 2021 1:33 UTC
7 points
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on: EA is a Career Endpoint
This seems like quite solid advice to me and especially relevant in light of posts like this. It makes a lot of sense to try to “skill up” in areas that have lower barriers of entry (as long as they provide comparable or better career capital) and I like the idea that “you can go get somebody else to invest in your skilling-up process, then in a way, you’re diverting money and mentorship into EA.” This seems especially valuable since it both redirects resources of non-EA orgs that might’ve otherwise gone to skilling up people who aren’t altruistically-minded and frees up the resources of EA orgs that can now go towards developing other members of EA.

SeanEngelhart 4 Apr 2022 22:11 UTC
4 points
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in reply to: John G. Halstead’s comment on: Aiming for the minimum of self-care is dangerous
When I first read this and some of the other comments, I think I was in an especially sensitive headspace for guilt / unhealthy self-pressure. Because of that & the way it affected me at the time, I want to mention for others in similar headspaces: Nate Soares’ Replacing Guilt series might be helpful (there’s also a podcast version). Also, if you feel like you need to talk to someone about this and/or would like ideas for additional resources (not sure how many I have, but at least some) please feel free to direct message me.

SeanEngelhart 14 Mar 2022 1:53 UTC
4 points
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on: Samotsvety Nuclear Risk Forecasts — March 2022
Thanks so much for posting this! Do you plan to update the forecast here / elsewhere on the forum at all? If not, do you have any recommendations for places to see high quality, up-to-date forecasts on nuclear risk?

SeanEngelhart 20 Mar 2022 12:03 UTC
3 points
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on: Apply for Red Team Challenge [May 7 - June 4]
This sounds awesome! Thank you for running it! Do you expect to have additional runs of this in the future?

SeanEngelhart 6 May 2021 14:52 UTC
3 points
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on: Maintaining Motivation
Thanks so much for this session! I found it really valuable. Specifically, the conversations on mental health and the dynamic between EA and social justice felt very relevant for me. I think this style of session could be very effective at reducing alienation/isolation within EA, underscoring its diversity, and strengthening one’s sense of community, especially for those who feel like they are outsiders in some sense. I would definitely support having more of these types of sessions in the future.

SeanEngelhart 7 May 2022 23:00 UTC
2 points
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on: Apply to the second ML for Alignment Bootcamp (MLAB 2) in Berkeley [Aug 15 - Fri Sept 2]
If someone doesn’t have much prior ML experience, can they still be a TA, assuming they have a month to dedicate to learning the curriculum before the program starts?

If yes, would the TA’s learning during that month be self-guided? Or would it take place in a structure/environment similar to the one the students will experience?

SeanEngelhart 16 Jun 2021 21:56 UTC
2 points
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in reply to: AidanGoth’s comment on: Weighted Pros / Cons as a Norm
Sorry for my very slow response!

Thanks—this is helpful! Also, I want to note for anyone else looking for the kind of source I mentioned, this 80K podcast with Spencer Greenberg is actually very helpful and relevant for the things described above. They even work through some examples together.

(I had heard about the “Question of Evidence,” which I described above, from looking at a snippet of the podcast’s transcript, but hadn’t actually listened to the whole thing. Doing a full listen felt very worth it for the kind of info mentioned above.)

SeanEngelhart 29 May 2021 12:42 UTC
2 points
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in reply to: AidanGoth’s comment on: Weighted Pros / Cons as a Norm
Great point! I understand the high-level idea behind priors and updating, but I’m not very familiar with the details of Bayes factors and other Bayesian topics. A quick look at Wikipedia didn’t feel super helpful… I’m guessing you don’t mean formally applying the equations, but instead doing it in a more approximate or practical way? I’ve heard Spencer Greenberg’s description of the “Question of Evidence” (how likely would I be to see this evidence if my hypothesis is true, compared to if it’s false?). Are there similar quick, practical framings that could be applied for the purposes described in your comment? Do you know of any good, practical resources on Bayesian topics that would be sufficient for what you described?

SeanEngelhart 20 Jul 2022 0:38 UTC
1 point
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in reply to: Simon Holm’s comment on: Investigating Cause Areas vs. Jumping In
Good point! I actually had that same misunderstanding I think too!

SeanEngelhart 25 Jun 2022 18:47 UTC
1 point
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in reply to: Simon Holm’s comment on: Investigating Cause Areas vs. Jumping In
Sorry for the incredibly late response! I think that all makes sense—thanks for sharing!

I think it also ends up depending a lot on one’s particular circumstances: do you have a unique / timely opportunity to “jump in”? Do you have a clear path forward (i.e. options that you even could “jump into”)? How uncertain do you feel about which path is right for you and how much would you have to reduce your uncertainty to feel satisfied?

It’s funny you mention that “it is easy to come to the conclusion that one should become a full-time philosopher or global priorities researcher to straighten these uncertainties out”—I’ve recently been thinking that this could actually be a good move in my particular circumstance. Global priorities research seems like a potentially very high impact area in itself. On top of that, one could use that time to become more informed about other cause areas that might be even higher impact for them. However, I’m not sure how useful this “scouting” aspect / approach would be. E.g. some of the areas I think could be higher impact for me than GPR are ones that I’m already pretty well-aware of. But I guess it could still be an opportunity to learn more about those areas, depending on what the research (done for GPR) would entail.

SeanEngelhart 15 Jun 2022 1:47 UTC
1 point
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on: seansre’s Shortform
Hey all!

Here’s a short page on vegan nutrition for anyone trying to learn more about it / get into veganism.

SeanEngelhart 7 May 2022 22:47 UTC
1 point
0 ∶ 0
on: Apply to the second ML for Alignment Bootcamp (MLAB 2) in Berkeley [Aug 15 - Fri Sept 2]
This sounds really exciting!

I’m a bit unclear on the below point:

I think that MLAB is a good use of time for many people who don’t plan to do technical alignment research long term but who intend to do theoretical alignment research or work on other things where being knowledgeable about ML techniques is useful.

Do you mean you don’t think MLAB would be a good use of time for people who do “plan to do technical alignment research long term”?

SeanEngelhart 11 Apr 2022 2:21 UTC
1 point
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on: A visualization of some orgs in the AI Safety Pipeline
Thanks for this!

Does “Learning the Basics” specifically mean learning AI Safety basics, or does this also include foundational AI/ML (in general, not just safety) learning? I’m wondering because I’m curious if you mean that the things under “Learning the Basics” could be done with little/no background in ML.

SeanEngelhart 22 Mar 2022 17:09 UTC
1 point
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on: Apply for Red Team Challenge [May 7 - June 4]
Do you have any examples of suggested ideas to red team? No worries if not - - just wanted to get a sense of what the suggested list will be like.

SeanEngelhart 10 Mar 2022 3:30 UTC
1 point
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in reply to: UwU’s comment on: Nuclear Preparedness Guide
I’m curious about your thoughts on this: hypothetically, if I were to relocate now, do you see the duration of my stay in the lower risk area as being indefinitely long? It seems unclear to me what exact signals—other than pretty obvious ones like the war ending, which I’d guess are much less likely to happen soon—would be clear green lights to move back to my original location. I’m wondering because I’m trying to assess feasibility. For my situation, it feels like the longer I’m away, the higher the cost (not specifically monetary) of the relocation.

SeanEngelhart 29 May 2021 19:35 UTC
1 point
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in reply to: AidanGoth’s comment on: Weighted Pros / Cons as a Norm
Is there any chance you have an example of your last suggestion in practice (stating a prior, then intuitively updating it after each consideration)? No worries if not.

SeanEngelhart 8 Feb 2021 21:30 UTC
1 point
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in reply to: JP Addison’s comment on: seansre’s Shortform
Yeah, I’m in SE, but have been considering some additional fields as well. Thanks for the info!

SeanEngelhart 8 Feb 2021 19:11 UTC
1 point
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on: seansre’s Shortform
Hi all! I’m wondering how valuable joining an honors society is in terms of job searching (in general, but also for EA-specific roles). I’ve received invitations from the few honors societies that seem legitimate (Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi) and am weighing whether I should pay the member fee for one of them. Does anyone have any knowledge / experience with this? Thanks, Sean

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