like, there's some wildness i love about the rationalist community, some punk-teen undercurrent that makes me feel kinda nervous and excited. the EAs almost never make me feel awe, they make me feel like im supposed to be in school or investing responsibly
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and sure, this is a legit strategy - rick doblin went to school and responsibly invested his way into mdma getting federally approved, im not like... sayin this has no merit
but im here to bitch (also reminder i love the EAs dont use this to slander them)
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but compared to rationalists, the EAs seem to be... glancing over their shoulder for approval more? or their beliefs are more social as opposed to raw and true? better at following rules, or needing rules? or something?
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reminds me of when I moved right in between MIT and harvard, and i was so excited to meet really cool smart people, and then disappointed to find they were less... smart, and more really good at working hard and following system guidance.
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i think the EAs are smart, smarter than those kids going to the fancy schools, but they're not running screaming into any voids, or pursuing truth until their faces burn off. it feels like EA culture has an ambient Door That Must Not Be Opened and everyone's chill with it
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maybe my gut just doesn't believe that the EA egregore is in it for real, like the egregore really wants direction and meaning in life to reassure it that it has a place in the world, and EA is a safe, established, squeaky-clean bet to do so
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this likely is super unoriginal criticism and theres been four years of extensive discussion among the EAs on this exact topic who tf knows, like i said i'm v unqualified, dont know what im talkin about, i don't interact with EA communities much.
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i just like communities that make me feel like ive grasped a smoking forbidden fruit, and it looks me in the eye with a deadly twinkle and asks if i'm finally ready to know what's on the other side of the edge of the world, ok
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(also all this doesnt apply to all EAs i know, i love my EA friends, u are wonderful people)
(also I feel like im tryin to put a finger on a thing and i don't think this thread fully did it, but i think it got a piece of it)
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Orientation towards helping others + enough "courage" (disagreeableness?) to thwart social norms is an extremely rare combo, I'd bet something about the two traits make them antithetical.
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idk this feels like... it's missing an intuition I have? Like I agree that the combo is rare, but I think.... maybe I believe that the drive to help others *requires* courage? and if you're helping others without courage then you're doing something shallow?