On average, scholars self-reported understanding of major alignment agendas increased by 1.75 on this 10 point scale. Two respondents reported a one-point decrease in their ratings, which could be explained by some inconsistency in scholars’ self-assessments (they could not see their earlier responses when they answered at the end of the Research Phase) or by scholars realizing their previous understanding was not as comprehensive as they had thought.
This could also be explained by these scholars actually having a worse understanding after the program. For me, MATS caused me to focus a bunch on a few particular areas and spend less time at the high level / reading random LW posts, which plausibly has the effect of reducing my understanding of major alignment agendas.
This could happen because of forgetting what you previously knew, or various agendas changing and you not keeping up with it. My guess is that there are many 2 month time periods in which a researcher will have a worse understanding of major research agendas at the end than at the beginning — though on average you want the number to go up.
Thanks, Aaron! That’s helpful to hear. I think “forgetting” is a good candidate explanation because scholars answered that question right after competing Alignment 201, which is designed for breadth. Especially given the expedited pace of the course, I wouldn’t be surprised if people forgot a decent chunk of A201 material over the next couple months. Maybe for those two scholars, forgetting some A201 content outweighed the other sources of breadth they were afforded, like seminars, networking, etc.
This could also be explained by these scholars actually having a worse understanding after the program. For me, MATS caused me to focus a bunch on a few particular areas and spend less time at the high level / reading random LW posts, which plausibly has the effect of reducing my understanding of major alignment agendas.
This could happen because of forgetting what you previously knew, or various agendas changing and you not keeping up with it. My guess is that there are many 2 month time periods in which a researcher will have a worse understanding of major research agendas at the end than at the beginning — though on average you want the number to go up.
Thanks, Aaron! That’s helpful to hear. I think “forgetting” is a good candidate explanation because scholars answered that question right after competing Alignment 201, which is designed for breadth. Especially given the expedited pace of the course, I wouldn’t be surprised if people forgot a decent chunk of A201 material over the next couple months. Maybe for those two scholars, forgetting some A201 content outweighed the other sources of breadth they were afforded, like seminars, networking, etc.