Hello! This is my pseudonymous account... Why?
1) I'm serious considering a public-facing career, and am worried about something random I write on here coming back and biting me.
2) I have some imposter syndrome over voicing disagreement with conventional EA ideas. At the same time, maybe my ideas have value. Using a pseudonymous account makes me feel more free to say countercultural things.
Finally, I love and support the EA movement! I remember when I was new, and I went on a walk with two EAs for the first time in person. I wanted to enthuse about EA but they mainly moaned about it. This made my younger self feel a little disappointed, and I don't want that to happen to other people. Because this is my anonymous account it's a little criticism-focused, but I want to make clear that the movement has my support overall :D
Alex Lawsen has lots of relevant blog posts https://lawsen.substack.com/
(I can't vouch that he'll be able to talk though - he seems like a busy man.)
80,000 Hours interviewed someone about this: https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/zach-weinersmith-space-settlement/
Thanks for the post Rachel! I admire you looking into the topic.
However, one to add is that AMF monitors net usage uniquely stringently and this likely leads to far fewer people using the nets for fishing. (or at least they did until 2015)
From a 2015 article:
However, AMF takes a number of steps to stop misuse. We believe that each of them has contributed to the success of our distributions.
At AMF, the extensive data we have collected verifies that the number of nets we have distributed that are used for fishing is immaterial.
https://www.againstmalaria.com/NewsItem.aspx?newsitem=Net-use-and-the-importance-of-data-driven-distributions-and-monitoring
Given that AMF is the main bednet distributor that EAs give to (Malaria Consortium distributes medicine), I think the negative impact of EA-influenced bednet distribution is lower than one might assume from your post!
Would someone from CEA be able to comment on this incident?
'A third described an unsettling experience with an influential figure in EA whose role included picking out promising students and funneling them towards highly coveted jobs. After that leader arranged for her to be flown to the U.K. for a job interview, she recalls being surprised to discover that she was expected to stay in his home, not a hotel. When she arrived, she says, “he told me he needed to masturbate before seeing me.”'
Was this 'influential figure in EA' reported to Community Health, and if so, what were the consequences?
[Caveat: Assuming this is an influential EA, not a figure who has influence in EA but wouldn't see themselves as part of the community.]
@Toby Tremlett🔹 This content seems to be AI written, and also (relatedly?) to be misunderstanding the post. Are there any plans to implement a policy on LLMs, like the one on LessWrong?
(Edit: referring to Eli Nathan's comment)