Strongly agree with the last two sentences here.
How does cfar rank other thinking skills organisations outside the EA/MIRI groups? For instance, is Ember Associates plausibly one of the most important organisations currently existing?
Any word on this? We submitted applications ~6 weeks ago and it would be useful to find out who will be offered a spot.
Thought experiment. Imagine a machine that can create an identical set of atoms to the atoms that comprise a human's body. This machine is used to create a copy of you, and a copy of a second person, whom you have never met and know nothing about.
After the creation of the copy, 'you' will have no interaction with it. In fact, it's going to be placed into a space ship and fired into outer space, as is the copy of Person 2. Unfortunately, one spaceship is going to be very painful to be in. The other is going to be very pleasant. So a copy of you will experience pain or pleasure, and a copy of someone else will experience the other sensation.
To what extent do you care which copy receives which treatment? Zero? As much as you would care if it was you who was to be placed into the spaceship? Or something in between?
"Where are you from" and "where do you live now" are different questions. The first of these has multiple answers for a lot of people I know; the second probably doesn't. I would suggest both questions be asked next year.
Took the survey. I assume from the phrasing that 'country' means where I'm "from" rather than where I currently reside (there is more room for uncertainty about the former than about the latter). Might be interesting to put both questions.
EA doesn't want to take over countries
"Take over countries" is such an ugly phrase. I prefer "country optimisation".
"Hear ridiculous-sounding proposition, mark it as ridiculous, engage explanation, begin to accept arguments, begin to worry about this, agree to look at further reading"
I agree and I like it. I think it could be further optimised for "convince intelligent non-LWers who have been sent one link from their rationalist friends and will read only that one link", but it could definitely serve as a great starting point.
It is, or was, an organisation to teach thinking skills. Please don't focus on the example; it was the first one that came to mind and I didn't realise the website had expired. The point is that a lot of groups claim to teach thinking skills. Do you consider all such count to be EA? If not, what distinguishes CFAR from those that don't?