LessWrong: Things I Learned by Spending Five Thousand Hours In Non-EA Charities
An EA worked for some real nonprofits over the past few years and has written some notes comparing them with EA nonprofits. Among her observations are:
Make no mistake, though, she was not converted by the do-gooders, she just thinks they might have some good ideas:
[Lack of warm feelings in EA] is definitely a serious problem because it gates a lot of resources that could otherwise come to EA, but I think this might be a case where the cure could be worse than the disease if we’re not careful
During her time at real nonprofits she attempted some cultural exchanges in the other direction too, but the reception was not positive:
they were immediately turned off by the general vibes of EA upon visiting some of its websites. I think the term “borg-like” was used.
At least one commenter got the message:
But others, despite being otherwise receptive, seem stuck in EA mindset:
Inspired by this post, another EA goes over to the EA forum to propose that folks donate a little money to real nonprofits, but the reaction there is not enthusiastic:
“general vibes…borg-like”
I can’t breathe.
OP is so close to making a breakthrough. In the spirit of being generous I won’t sneer too hard. They make some great observations about how addressing issues requires structural and institutional action, which is usually difficult to quantify for the purposes for a CBA.
Of course it would suck if they came away from this further entrenched in EA-ness, but from the looks of it this is the first step in digging themselves out of that hole.
honestly it’s pretty hard for me to sneer at EA people. the roboapocalypse / atomic suffering ones, sure. Easy. but I can’t sneer at the givedirectly people, you know? they’re making the world less hellish for the people who need it most. the fuck have I done except whine about it?
It’s funny that this one is basically corporate PR 101 (especially for bad industries with a physical presence in a community) : “We can donate a little money locally just to project warmth and connection to the people around us.”
For people who supposedly prize efficiency, they spend a lot of time reinventing the wheel on things like social change theory, international development, and corporate social responsibility.