Hegemony How-To by Johnathan Smucker talks about ‘hardcore’ as something people want to do in activist movements, and the need to channel this into something productive. Some people want to work hard, and make sacrifices for something they believe in, and do not like being told ‘take care of yourself, work like 30 good hours a week, and try to be nice to people’.
This happens in all activist movements, and in my opinion, can happen anywhere where intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic motivation is the main driver, and that the more a leader makes appeals for ‘emotional motivation’ rather than offering say, money, the more likely a few ‘hardcores’ emerge.
I’d say this is a risk in AI safety, it’s not too profitable to join, people who are really active usually feel really strongly, and status is earned by perceived contribution. So of course some people will want to ‘go hardcore for AI safety’.
Based on some of the scandals in EA/rationalist communities, I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘hardcore’ has been channeled into ‘sex stuff with someone in a position of perceived authority’, which I’d guess is probably actively harmful, or in the absolute best case, totally unproductive.
Tldr, to use a dog training analogy, a ‘working dog’ that isn’t put to work will find something to do, and you probably won’t like it.
A long-time environmental activist was speaking to an enthusiastic group of young environmentalists at a rally. He warned of the precarious situation the environment was in, the toll that corporate greed had taken on forests, and the dire consequences that lay ahead if serious changes were not made. He then shouted out to the crowd,
“Are you ready to get out there and fight for the environment?” To which they answered an enthusiastic,
“Yeah!”
“Are you ready to get arrested and go to jail for the environment?”
“Yeah!!”
“Are you ready to give your life for the environment?”
“Yeah!!!”
“Are you willing to cut your hair and put on a suit for the environment?”
The crowd fell silent.
Whether this is a true story or just a colorful fable, the lesson is one we should all take to heart. How we look and dress is intimately tied up with our self-identity. How we look and dress also has a significant impact on how persuasive we will be and therefore how effective we will be at creating change. Abandoning an aspect of self-identity in order to be more effective at protecting the environment (or animals or people) can be a lot harder than it seems for those who’ve never had to make such a decision.
In fairness, a lot of these things (clothes, hairstyles, how “hard core” we can think we are based on working hours and such) have effects on our future self-image, and on any future actions that’re mediated by our future self-image. Maybe they’re protecting their psyches from getting eaten by corporate memes, by refusing to cut their hair and go work there.
I suspect we need to somehow have things less based in self-image if we are to do things that’re rooted in fresh perceptions etc. in the way e.g. science needs, but it’s a terrifying transition.
Hegemony How-To by Johnathan Smucker talks about ‘hardcore’ as something people want to do in activist movements, and the need to channel this into something productive. Some people want to work hard, and make sacrifices for something they believe in, and do not like being told ‘take care of yourself, work like 30 good hours a week, and try to be nice to people’.
This happens in all activist movements, and in my opinion, can happen anywhere where intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic motivation is the main driver, and that the more a leader makes appeals for ‘emotional motivation’ rather than offering say, money, the more likely a few ‘hardcores’ emerge.
I’d say this is a risk in AI safety, it’s not too profitable to join, people who are really active usually feel really strongly, and status is earned by perceived contribution. So of course some people will want to ‘go hardcore for AI safety’.
Based on some of the scandals in EA/rationalist communities, I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘hardcore’ has been channeled into ‘sex stuff with someone in a position of perceived authority’, which I’d guess is probably actively harmful, or in the absolute best case, totally unproductive.
Tldr, to use a dog training analogy, a ‘working dog’ that isn’t put to work will find something to do, and you probably won’t like it.
Reminds me of this:
(from Nick Cooney’s Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change)
In fairness, a lot of these things (clothes, hairstyles, how “hard core” we can think we are based on working hours and such) have effects on our future self-image, and on any future actions that’re mediated by our future self-image. Maybe they’re protecting their psyches from getting eaten by corporate memes, by refusing to cut their hair and go work there.
I suspect we need to somehow have things less based in self-image if we are to do things that’re rooted in fresh perceptions etc. in the way e.g. science needs, but it’s a terrifying transition.