The Nonlinear Library EA - Pitfalls to consider when community-building with young people by frances lorenz
Nov 14, 2023
08:38
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Pitfalls to consider when community-building with young people, published by frances lorenz on November 14, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
This is a quick outline of two worries that come up for me when I consider EA's focus on community-building amongst university-age people, sometimes younger. I am mostly focussed on possible negative consequences to young people rather than EA itself. I don't offer potential solutions to these worries, but rather try to explain my thinking and then pose questions sitting at the top of my mind.
Intro
At a past lunch with coworkers, I brought up the topic of, "Sprout EAs". Currently, this is the term I'm using to describe people who have spent their entire full-time professional career in the EA ecosystem, becoming involved at university-age, or occasionally, high school-age.[1]
Anyways, there are two things I worry about with this group:
Worry one: Sprout EAs stay in EA because it is often easier to stay in things than to leave, especially when you're young
There's your standard
status quo bias that can get particularly salient around graduation time. At that point, many people are under-resourced and pushing towards more stable self-reliance, uncertain what next steps to take, relatively early in their journey of life and their professional career. Many undergraduate students are familiar with the, "unsure what to do next? Just do grad school!" meme, because when so much of your adult life is ahead of you and you're confused, it's enticing to do more of what you know.
In a similar vein: I think those entering the professional world, who have become heavily embedded in EA during their time as a student, have a lot of force behind them pushing them to remain in the EA ecosystem. Maybe this doesn't really matter, because maybe lots of them will find jobs they really enjoy and have an impact and develop into their adult life, and it's all good. And also, maybe it's kind of a moot point because, you have to choose something.
But, if EA is going to put concerted effort into community building on university campuses, and sometimes with high school students, these are probably important dynamics to think about. Additionally, EA has some unique and potent qualities that can grab young people:
It can offer a very clear career-path, which is incredibly comforting
It can offer a sense of meaning
It can offer a social community
All these things have the potential to make "off-boarding" from EA extra difficult, especially at a time in life when people generally have less internal, social, experiential, and material resources. I worry about young people who could gain a lot of personal benefit from "off-boarding" or just distancing a bit more from EA, yet struggle to do so (for reasons of the flavour described above) or forget this is even an option/find it too mentally aversive to consider.
Worry two: EA offers young people things it isn't "trying to" or "built to," which can lead to negative outcomes for individuals
I think this is an important point that can get muddled. There's the thing EA "actually is," which is debatable and a bit abstract. It's a community, an idea, maybe a question? It's not a solved, prescriptive, infallible philosophy. It is, maybe, a powerful framework with a highly active professional and social community built around it, attempting to do good. But the way it can hit people differs quite a bit. No one can control if EA fills holes in people's lives, even if that isn't an express or even desirable goal.
On one level, EA can easily hit as a straightforward career plan and life purpose that young people can scoop up and run with, if they're positioned to do so. That anyone can scoop up, of course. But young people, being young and often more impressionable, less established, etc., can be particularly positioned ...
This is a quick outline of two worries that come up for me when I consider EA's focus on community-building amongst university-age people, sometimes younger. I am mostly focussed on possible negative consequences to young people rather than EA itself. I don't offer potential solutions to these worries, but rather try to explain my thinking and then pose questions sitting at the top of my mind.
Intro
At a past lunch with coworkers, I brought up the topic of, "Sprout EAs". Currently, this is the term I'm using to describe people who have spent their entire full-time professional career in the EA ecosystem, becoming involved at university-age, or occasionally, high school-age.[1]
Anyways, there are two things I worry about with this group:
Worry one: Sprout EAs stay in EA because it is often easier to stay in things than to leave, especially when you're young
There's your standard
status quo bias that can get particularly salient around graduation time. At that point, many people are under-resourced and pushing towards more stable self-reliance, uncertain what next steps to take, relatively early in their journey of life and their professional career. Many undergraduate students are familiar with the, "unsure what to do next? Just do grad school!" meme, because when so much of your adult life is ahead of you and you're confused, it's enticing to do more of what you know.
In a similar vein: I think those entering the professional world, who have become heavily embedded in EA during their time as a student, have a lot of force behind them pushing them to remain in the EA ecosystem. Maybe this doesn't really matter, because maybe lots of them will find jobs they really enjoy and have an impact and develop into their adult life, and it's all good. And also, maybe it's kind of a moot point because, you have to choose something.
But, if EA is going to put concerted effort into community building on university campuses, and sometimes with high school students, these are probably important dynamics to think about. Additionally, EA has some unique and potent qualities that can grab young people:
It can offer a very clear career-path, which is incredibly comforting
It can offer a sense of meaning
It can offer a social community
All these things have the potential to make "off-boarding" from EA extra difficult, especially at a time in life when people generally have less internal, social, experiential, and material resources. I worry about young people who could gain a lot of personal benefit from "off-boarding" or just distancing a bit more from EA, yet struggle to do so (for reasons of the flavour described above) or forget this is even an option/find it too mentally aversive to consider.
Worry two: EA offers young people things it isn't "trying to" or "built to," which can lead to negative outcomes for individuals
I think this is an important point that can get muddled. There's the thing EA "actually is," which is debatable and a bit abstract. It's a community, an idea, maybe a question? It's not a solved, prescriptive, infallible philosophy. It is, maybe, a powerful framework with a highly active professional and social community built around it, attempting to do good. But the way it can hit people differs quite a bit. No one can control if EA fills holes in people's lives, even if that isn't an express or even desirable goal.
On one level, EA can easily hit as a straightforward career plan and life purpose that young people can scoop up and run with, if they're positioned to do so. That anyone can scoop up, of course. But young people, being young and often more impressionable, less established, etc., can be particularly positioned ...