There are some schelling points in EA that aren’t a result of deliberate optimisation, but are instead a result of founder effects, path dependency etc
These equilibria may be suboptimal and hard to change by any individual, but with coordinated action we may be able to shift to a better equilibrium.
Put your ideas for ‘equilibrium shifts’ here and upvote ones you’d like to see happen - the most popular proposals will naturally be the easiest to implement.
Some examples:
- Everyone’s coming to the bay because all the cool EAs are already in the bay, is there a better schelling point (perhaps with cheaper cost of living/more political influence?) https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/M5GoKkWtBKEGMCFHn/what-s-the-theory-of-change-of-come-to-the-bay-over-the
- Everyone’s on Facebook messenger as all the EAs are already on Facebook messenger, would another app be better? https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/KbXS5qiQP7szLb26k/eas-should-use-signal-instead-of-facebook-messenger
The case for San Diego
I think that San Diego would be an excellent hub for EAs, especially people in the AI Alignment community
Disadvantages
I'm not convinced that the AI Safety community should move at all, but if it is to move, I think that a place like San Diego would be a natural place to consider.