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Notes -
Update to @Quantumfreakonomics 's post about EA Drama downthread.
For context:
Basically, a major EA figure was outed as having sexually harassed at least five women, some he had plausible professional power over. The community health team in EA knew about it and essentially did nothing until the TIME article outed it.
Even now, he's getting the kid glove treatment - temporarily resigning and not taking on new mentorships, but continuing all his other duties. Realistically he'll probably still function as an informal board member.
In addition there have been two other major updates, and I cannot overstate the importance here. Both of the heads of the two biggest EA organizations, Holden Karnofsky at Open Philanthropy and Max Dalton at the Centre for Effective Altruism are stepping down. In Holden's case, temporarily to work on AI risk.
Max Dalton at CEA
Holden at Open Phil
If you haven't been following Effective Altruism this may just seem like another set of scandals - it's not. The past 6 months or so have been a constant barrage of issues, starting with SBF's massive fraud and the collapse of FTX, the issues with Nick Bostrom being outed as a racist/HBD enthusiast, the TIME article mentioned above, and finally both of these central figures resigning. There have been many more petty dramas playing out as well.
This is the crucible, the defining moment for Effective Altruism. Whether the movement lives or dies will likely be determined in the next year.
Whoever takes over the reigns of the movement, it's clear that shifts are happening and power is up for grabs. With AGI likely around the corner, this realignment of power in the EA sphere has the potential to determine the singleton who controls the future.
Expect a bloodbath either way.
Is the whole point of Effective Altruism to be a place for nerds to meet women? I’ll be honest, I never really “got” EA, but once I applied the “rationalist nerd dating scene” lens, everything suddenly made sense. No one actually cares about the mental wellbeing of shrimp. It’s just an excuse to show girls how nice and empathetic and smart and well-connected you are. The tone of this comments section is very much, “you’ll have to pry the polyamory from my cold dead hands.” Empirically, I see lots and lots of married couples and casual sex, but very little global improvement. By their fruits you shall know them etc.
Based on many of the frothing defendants of polyamory on the EA forum - seems like that is a major driver. Check out this comment where a relatively connected EA directly says:
This dude got a grant for tens of thousands of dollars to write a fantasy book for EA. Go figure.
I have been involved in EA for a while outside of the Bay Area / UK sections, and damn I had no idea the rot went this deep. It's wild to see these poly folks mask off.
So what exactly is the problem here? He says that he is motivated to engage socially by opportunities to get laid (which I suspect is true for many people, even as it is generally considered very antisocial to admit), and arguing that a community is strengthened by providing the opportunity (which is hardly a new or outlandish viewpoint; trads say basically as much about trad church-centered communities too). This does not imply that it is the point; both positions are consistent with the point of EA, and even most people in it, being exactly what it is claimed to be.
What does the "frothing" add here, apart from conveying your own anger (which you could have done in more detached terms) and aggrieving any reader who might imagine themselves as being targeted by the description?
I'm at best neutral towards poly (and manifestly not pro-A, E or otherwise; I find globally-oriented altruism to be a deleterious meme that breeds moral imperialism and personal misery), but seeing them come under this sort of ostentatious attack just makes me want to make a show of donating some money, both in order to defend the ability of these people to live under a different set of norms and to penalize the attempt to shame them for it with vague "can you believe this?" pointing.
I’ll be honest, it just gives me a sort of deep disgust reaction. I run a meetup myself and thinking of a dude showing up trying to get laid pisses me off.
I also think that EA is at risk of being destroyed by cultural tides of wokeism, and behavior like this is why. It’s 70% male, and many high status males are constantly looking to sleep with any woman in the community. Creates awful social dynamics.
Wokism has an easier time destroying those who are in some way ashamed of men looking to sleep with women, because they don't fight back.
Yeah that’s a hell of a look for a movement “our community lets it’s men paw at any pretty girl working as a secretary, what of it?”
Yeah, good luck with that defence, just fight back!
The context here is a meetup, not an employer. And the complaint is about propositions, not pawing. What kind of "community" forbids romantic and sexual entanglements between its members? Monasteries and nunneries?
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I suspect there's a nonzero amount of women who are ok with that as long as there's no assault. If every individual legal entity has 14 or less employees they'll be fine.*
* Probably doesn't apply in like, California, but no way I'm looking up state sexual harassment laws
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