Data point: I was definitely in the ″rationalism seemed innately obvious” camp. re: the broader reach of EA, can’t confirm or deny either way myself, but here’s an alternative perspective.
Maybe the “1% of the 1%” he mentions are the people who naturally take to EA? I also suspect that the undergrads he talks to are far from a random sample of elite-college undergrads. I think the analogy with communism is important—like any intellectual movement, most of the expected impact of EA probably comes from in its potential to influence key decision-makers at some future pivotal moment.
Data point: I was definitely in the ″rationalism seemed innately obvious” camp. re: the broader reach of EA, can’t confirm or deny either way myself, but here’s an alternative perspective.
Maybe the “1% of the 1%” he mentions are the people who naturally take to EA? I also suspect that the undergrads he talks to are far from a random sample of elite-college undergrads. I think the analogy with communism is important—like any intellectual movement, most of the expected impact of EA probably comes from in its potential to influence key decision-makers at some future pivotal moment.