Any views stated are my own only (not those of the organisation I work for)
I have mixed feelings because I understand what the post is getting at but think this is a good example of a person writing their thoughts without considering how others will perceive them. E.g. there is no need to say 'quality of person' to get the point across, but doing so might make more sense if the author's mental process is simply 'writing down, as accurately as possible, what I believe' and there's no flagging of how a message might be received.
This problem seems common to me in the rationality community. Not meaning to dig at Thomas in particular, only to point it out, since I think it could reduce the diversity of the EA community along important lines.
If you state an opinion, it's thought that opinion should be scrupulously challenged.
If you state a feeling you had, especially a difficult or conflicted one, it's thought that it should be welcomed and certainly not challenged.
Individually, these attitudes make sense, but together I would expect that they will make Forum posts much more focused on emotional reactions than careful and unemotional pieces.
To clarify, I want both and think emotional reactions can be very important. But at least once, I've seen a detailed but unemotional post buried under a less well thought through post describing someone's emotional reaction to a similar issue. Perhaps we should be welcoming of posts that try hard to do careful and rational analysis, even if they seem/are misguided or unsuccessful.
Linking to Spencer Greenberg's excellent short talk on intrinsic values:
Spencer claims, among other things, that
Adding more that I've found or been told about:
- 'How to (actually) change the world' course (5-10 min videos): https://www.effectivealtruism.org/virtual-programs/how-to-actually-change-the-world
- Potentially some content from here: https://library.globalchallengesproject.org/
- AI Safety Fundamentals audio: https://preview.type3.audio/playlists/agi-safety-fundamentals-alignment
- More newsletters:
1. Global Development & Effective Altruism
2. Monthly Overload of Effective Altruism
3. Impactful Animal Advocacy Community Newsletter