I'm interested in stories of people changing the way they interact with the EA movement/community, whether they've become more deeply involved or dialed down their involvement. This seems like a good way to understand what EA's "infrastructure" (organizations, communities, etc.) is doing well or badly.
Has your involvement changed in the last ~12 months? If so, what factors were important in that change?
Examples might include:
- Getting a new job in the community
- Attending your first conference
- Taking a pledge related to your giving
- Having a personal experience that made EA feel more meaningful or special to you
- Finding a new job/hobby/community outside of EA that led you to become less engaged
- Having an unpleasant interaction that made you feel somewhat alienated from EA
An example I remember from a non-EA, mostly male meetup:
Man, striking up conversation with new woman attendee: "So, are you actually interested in [topic of the meetup] or did someone drag you here?" When I objected, he said, "It's just that most of the women who come here are dragged by someone else." That might have been true, but it sure wasn't what I'd want to hear as a new attendee.
It might be a mistake people are more likely to make if they think explicitly about Bayesianism. "I have some data on what people like you are like; let me tell you my prior." But one point of a meetup is to encounter people as individuals. If I understand Bayesian terms right, it's about gathering data to inform your posteriors - what is this specific person actually like?
In some cases it's not a bad idea to let your priors drive conversation - if I meet someone who's a biology student, I might guess they're interested in topic X. But in other cases it's just insulting.