What I think I had in mind writing this: Imagine you have newly realized that donations actually save lives, and that (unnecessary) purchases can be converted to dead child currency, and have started donating all you can to save all the children you can.
I don't think in this case it's a good idea to start telling everyone around you that using their money for leisure is the same as killing children and that EA can show this is true. I think this would harm the EA brand, and it would be better to keep your head cool and think about best communication strategies (eg. to increase donations) in collaboration with other EAs around you.
A pretty good summary, but to clarify point 3: we had "external" volunteers (who are not deeply involved with EA) taking the role of practice advisees, a method I find more realistic than the volunter advisors in training roleplaying as advisees themselves.
I obviously don't have access to Mikkola's full interview transcripts, but when I think back to EA Helsinki on 2021, it is possible that none of us who were interviewed told her we'd do anything like that, and would only list serious sounding stuff such as donating and career planning as our EA actions :) this, again, shows the limitations of inspecting a whole movement with a limited interview study like this.
Thanks for asking! I meant to write it in negative – my point with this question was to encourage thinking about collaborators outside the EA organization space. This is because I think local groups can have the tendency to just think about (international) EA orgs when thinking about potential collaborators, and sometimes it could be valuable for them to collaborate with (local) organizations (in addition to EA orgs). Or maybe the question would show that no organizations that are interesting collaborators for the local group would even exist in the imaginary case – this would make the priorities of the local group clearer, and maybe encourage members to start new local projects.
Yeah, in Finnish contexts (nude) sauna is a normal option for an afterparty of a professional conference or similar context :) but in these cases, there is a gender separation of sauna turns (or different saunas) for men and women, just like at Finnish public swimming pools. At EA Finland events we have so far followed a quite usual Finnish student and hobby group policy of having a sauna turns for non-men and non-women separately and a mixed turn where everyone is welcome, with the option but not obligation to wear a swimming suit.
We personally also recommend engaging with the writings of Eliezer, Paul, Nate, and John. We do not endorse all of their research, but they all have tackled the problem, and made a fair share of their reasoning public. If we want to get better together, they seem like a good start.
I realize this is a cross post and your original audience might know where to find all these recommendations even without further info, but if you want new people to look into their writings, it would be better to at least use full names of the authors you recommend.
Onni works for Rethink Priorities and is part of the board of EA Finland, but does not actively participate in community building efforts in a hands-on practical basis anymore such as organizing events or so. My impression is that he is relieved that other people are doing it now :)
Good that you asked, since one thing I wanted to highlight with this story was that it is possible to succeed at community building even if it is not your favorite thing or the best personal fit for you considering all abstract possibilities – if you are the only person able to put in effort at a specific time, you are the best person to do it. (And later you can hand it over to others when you discover a new another opportunity that utilizes more of your personal strengths.)
Good observation, I didn't notice that! Sure makes it harder for non-Swedish speakers to for example become aware of "should I check whether there is a connection to Nationaldemokraterna" if there is no English page that points to that direction.
What comes to Swedish speakers: If the letter of intent would have been signed because of nepotism, the vaccination skepticism part probably would not have come as a surprise since it seems to be a recurring theme in Per Shapiro's NyD contributions (again, if my Swedish does not fail me). Which to me seems evidence to the direction that nepotism did not influence the decision.
What I think I had in mind writing this: Imagine you have newly realized that donations actually save lives, and that (unnecessary) purchases can be converted to dead child currency, and have started donating all you can to save all the children you can.
I don't think in this case it's a good idea to start telling everyone around you that using their money for leisure is the same as killing children and that EA can show this is true. I think this would harm the EA brand, and it would be better to keep your head cool and think about best communication strategies (eg. to increase donations) in collaboration with other EAs around you.
A pretty good summary, but to clarify point 3: we had "external" volunteers (who are not deeply involved with EA) taking the role of practice advisees, a method I find more realistic than the volunter advisors in training roleplaying as advisees themselves.
I obviously don't have access to Mikkola's full interview transcripts, but when I think back to EA Helsinki on 2021, it is possible that none of us who were interviewed told her we'd do anything like that, and would only list serious sounding stuff such as donating and career planning as our EA actions :) this, again, shows the limitations of inspecting a whole movement with a limited interview study like this.
Interesting write-up, especially the part about adapting EA materials to French culture! Thanks for writing this :)
Thanks for asking! I meant to write it in negative – my point with this question was to encourage thinking about collaborators outside the EA organization space. This is because I think local groups can have the tendency to just think about (international) EA orgs when thinking about potential collaborators, and sometimes it could be valuable for them to collaborate with (local) organizations (in addition to EA orgs). Or maybe the question would show that no organizations that are interesting collaborators for the local group would even exist in the imaginary case – this would make the priorities of the local group clearer, and maybe encourage members to start new local projects.
Exactly, that's the idea!
Yeah, in Finnish contexts (nude) sauna is a normal option for an afterparty of a professional conference or similar context :) but in these cases, there is a gender separation of sauna turns (or different saunas) for men and women, just like at Finnish public swimming pools. At EA Finland events we have so far followed a quite usual Finnish student and hobby group policy of having a sauna turns for non-men and non-women separately and a mixed turn where everyone is welcome, with the option but not obligation to wear a swimming suit.
I realize this is a cross post and your original audience might know where to find all these recommendations even without further info, but if you want new people to look into their writings, it would be better to at least use full names of the authors you recommend.
Onni works for Rethink Priorities and is part of the board of EA Finland, but does not actively participate in community building efforts in a hands-on practical basis anymore such as organizing events or so. My impression is that he is relieved that other people are doing it now :)
Good that you asked, since one thing I wanted to highlight with this story was that it is possible to succeed at community building even if it is not your favorite thing or the best personal fit for you considering all abstract possibilities – if you are the only person able to put in effort at a specific time, you are the best person to do it. (And later you can hand it over to others when you discover a new another opportunity that utilizes more of your personal strengths.)
Good observation, I didn't notice that! Sure makes it harder for non-Swedish speakers to for example become aware of "should I check whether there is a connection to Nationaldemokraterna" if there is no English page that points to that direction.
What comes to Swedish speakers: If the letter of intent would have been signed because of nepotism, the vaccination skepticism part probably would not have come as a surprise since it seems to be a recurring theme in Per Shapiro's NyD contributions (again, if my Swedish does not fail me). Which to me seems evidence to the direction that nepotism did not influence the decision.