I made a database for "art with EA vibes" — books, movies, and other works, fiction or nonfiction, that cover topics or ideas related to effective altruism and are aesthetically pleasing or interesting.[1]
The second point is key. We already have reading lists for philosophy and such; this database covers content that most of us would read or watch for fun.[2]
I've started off with 19 items and will add more, but I need your help to make this a true public resource! (And avoid subjecting everyone to my questionable taste.)
How can I submit something?
Use this form! Or leave a comment below if that feels easier.
If you have comments on something already listed (e.g. content warnings, suggested tags), or ideas to improve the database itself, leave a comment or send me a message.
What are you looking for?
I'd love to see content that:
- Was made to address EA topics (e.g. AI in Context videos)
- Was made to convey EA-flavored messages (e.g. HPMOR)[3]
- Isn't related to EA, but still has the right vibes (e.g. Dr. Stone) or approaches related ideas in an interesting way (e.g. Consider the Lobster)
- Instills "EA values" like empathy or an appreciation for cause prioritization (e.g. Material World)
- Includes wise or heroic actions that might inspire people in EA, or make us feel warm and fuzzy inside (e.g. 500 Million, But Not A Single One More)
Specific genres we're short on:
- AI safety / transformative AI
- Animal welfare / sentience
- Biosecurity
- Cause selection / prioritization (and "EA thinking" in general)
- Scientific progress
If you're not sure whether something belongs, submit it! I'll check submissions regularly, and will let you know if I add your entry or have more questions.
Why did you make this?
- As an EA group leader, I was always desperate for fun/casual activities. I hope that EA groups will use this for book clubs, movie nights, etc.
- Based on karma for the top art/fiction posts, Forum users enjoy this kind of thing. Seems good to have a community list for the best content.
- Content like this can suss out whether someone might be interested in EA. A friend who really digs Life in a Day is probably someone I can pitch on Giving What We Can without being too far off the mark.
- Art and fiction feed my love for this community. I'm surrounded by the real-life equivalents of Ishigami Byakuya and Rational!Hermione, which makes it fun to read these stories (that's my friend!) and go to conferences (that's my hero!). If you feel the same way, this list is a way to meet new familiar characters.
- ^
Given the problems we deal with, "interesting" can include "horrifying".
- ^
By "us", I mean "people who have some interest in EA or related topics", not "Forum users" or "people who use the EA label".
- ^
I wouldn't say that HPMOR is "about EA", but it's about solving problems via clear thinking and the application of the scientific method, which feels close enough (though EA doesn't own those things — no one owns the methods of rationality). Call it something like "humane rationality" if you prefer. Maybe Eliezer has some other way of referring to it?
Jose Gonzalez' last two albums are wonderful and have significant (and explicit) EA influences. He'll be promoting the GWWC pledge on his upcoming tour too!
Visions is one my favourites:
Not sure it fits neatly in your categories, but the mirror bacteria prototype shelter I put up garnered both curatorial interest and excitement from serious artists: https://www.fonixfuture.com/
Framing these as ownable, inhabitable existential art objects people can put up in their backyard for contemplation/conversation starting has resulted in a few deposits for pre-orders. Very happy to share more information!
Fooming Shoggoths! (And, more generally, much of the secular-solstice music -- there's already a database full of this somewhere.)
obligatory https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/movie-review-the-story-of-louis-pasteur (i've watched this like 5 times i adore it, thanks ozy for the rec)
Btw, would you consider adding author/publisher and work type (film, music, book, etc.) columns to the table? For example, I'm not sure that many people would know that "The Last Human" is a Kurzgesagt video unless they clicked through to the video page.
Thanks for the reminder -- didn't mean to leave out the type.
I skipped "Creator" at first because I wasn't sure it was worth the space (mostly one-time creators here), but when I thought more, it seems useful for people to be able to e.g. filter through all the Scott Alexander content once the database is bigger. And it saves people from having to specify creators in the title. And people can always filter it out for themselves. So it's in for now!
Thanks for posting this! I noticed that the Airtable is currently broken, though 🫠
Fixed! Thanks for the alert.
Can you make it easier to submit (volume) by making fields optional? I.e. I'd love to just submit a handful of links - AI can generate the summary etc.
I'd prefer for the submitter to write or generate a summary, so that it covers what they think is important — an AI summary of e.g. "War With The Newts" probably won't hint at the EA parallels.
I also like having less AI text around if I can help it; I don't personally mind it in this context, but think it tends to degrade reading experience for many people.
That said, I'd like to make life easier for submitters, so I've removed the mandate from "summary" and "media type". I left "EA vibes" because that still requires a human touch — my experiments in getting AI to explain a book's EA vibes have been mixed at best, and a work's connection to EA is often quite personal for the submitter (we all see EA a bit differently).
Do you mean like portraits of nerds with pocket protectors full of pens and heavy guilt feelings on their face?