The EA-Progress Studies War is Here, and It’s a Constructive Dialogue!
Clara: I’d like to kick off this discussion by talking about what effective altruism and progress studies are, and why we’re putting them in conversation. They’re both social movements. They both have roots in a particular milieu — California techies crossed with wonky economists. They both share a strong emphasis on technology as the fundamental factor shaping the human condition. And they’re both very interested in how scientific and technological progress can be steered. Also we all like to write really excruciatingly detailed blog posts, which might be the most important parallel of all.
Jason: You forgot to mention that they both overlap with the rationalist community, which might have something to do with the excruciatingly detailed blog posts.
First, as an aside, I’ve never loved the term “progress studies,” which makes it sound much more academic than it is; I usually talk about the progress community or the progress movement. (It’s also hard to figure out what to call us — progress studiers? Progress people?)
