This seems to nudge people in a generally good direction.
But the emphasis on slack seems somewhat overdone.
My impression is that people who accomplish the most typically have had small to moderate amounts of slack. They made good use of their time by prioritizing their exploration of neglected questions well. That might create the impression of much slack, but I don’t see slack as a good description of the cause.
One of my earliest memories of Eliezer is him writing something to the effect that he didn’t have time to be a teenager (probably on the Extropians list, but I haven’t found it).
I don’t like the way you classify your approach as an alternative to direct work. I prefer to think of it as a typical way to get into direct work.
I’ve heard a couple of people mention recently that AI safety is constrained by the shortage of mentors for PhD theses. That seems wrong. I hope people don’t treat a PhD as a standard path to direct work.
This seems to nudge people in a generally good direction.
But the emphasis on slack seems somewhat overdone.
My impression is that people who accomplish the most typically have had small to moderate amounts of slack. They made good use of their time by prioritizing their exploration of neglected questions well. That might create the impression of much slack, but I don’t see slack as a good description of the cause.
One of my earliest memories of Eliezer is him writing something to the effect that he didn’t have time to be a teenager (probably on the Extropians list, but I haven’t found it).
I don’t like the way you classify your approach as an alternative to direct work. I prefer to think of it as a typical way to get into direct work.
I’ve heard a couple of people mention recently that AI safety is constrained by the shortage of mentors for PhD theses. That seems wrong. I hope people don’t treat a PhD as a standard path to direct work.
I also endorse Anna’s related comments here.