Request for public input: The EA Handbook

TLDR 

• CEA is currently updating the EA Handbook, a resource used by the EA Virtual Programs and group organizers around the globe. 
• We are seeking input from the EA community to help us calibrate our own judgement of what can or should be updated, both with regards to content as well as structure. Fill in the survey here by September 8th. 

Background 

Every year, the EA Handbook is used by hundreds of participants of the EA Virtual Programs as well as by participants in Intro Fellowships organized by group organizers around the world. It also serves as a common introduction for people who want to get acquainted with the ideas of Effective Altruism outside of any of these programs. Our best guess is that the Handbook is used by thousands of people every year, and - alongside interactions with facilitators and other participants - is part of what shapes peoples’ first impression of the movement. Therefore, we think that making sure that the Handbook accurately represents the current paradigms and provides readers with the tools most commonly used by actors in the wider EA ecosystem is a high-leverage opportunity to improve attraction and retention of community members, contributing to a healthy and inclusive community. 

The EA Handbook has been updated before, and the latest version was developed in mid-2022. So what is the need for a new version?

• Since the last update, many cohorts of the virtual (and in-person) programs have used this resource and have provided feedback on it, which prompted an initiative to update the Handbook again. 
• Some of the topics covered in the Handbook have also seen a huge increase in attention in the past ~12 months (especially risks from Artificial Intelligence), which has resulted in the publication of new papers, articles and blog posts that may provide a more up-to-date overview of current debates in a given field, and that reflect the degree to which people’s awareness and background knowledge may have changed. We aim to represent and accurately reflect these changes by adding resources or replacing older ones. That said, a more fundamental change with regards to the representation of different cause areas and topics the Handbook focuses on is currently not planned. 
• Finally, there has been an increased interest in EA recently, which increases the need for a good centralized starting point for those who are interested in exploring key ideas and concepts.  

Call to Action 

We would like to hear from you! Apart from consulting users (participants of Intro programs, facilitators of the Virtual Programs and group organisers as well as CEA staff and other stakeholders at relevant EA organisations) and analysing data obtained through the evaluation of said programs, we would like to get input from the wider community on what the next EA Handbook should look like.

To this end, we have created this survey for people to express their opinions on the current Handbook and to provide input in the form of wishes, recommendations or criticism that we hope to integrate into the newer version. The deadline to fill in this survey is September 8th. If there is anything you feel we should know, don’t hesitate to reach out under [email protected]. 

The survey is anonymous, but you are encouraged to leave your contact details in case we want to follow up with you on your thoughts or recommendations.