One obvious workaround might be to live elsewhere. (What are the advantages of living there in particular? Better networking opportunities, maybe? That would certainly be worth the cost—but might it be more efficient to instead have someone whose full-time job was networking to be the one living there, as opposed to someone mostly focused on theoretical research.)
Splitting SIAI to separate geographic locations (polymaths in Cheapistan and some people doing networking in the Bay Area) would create costs in the sense that communication is more tedious with e-mails than face-to-face. I wouldn’t want to split the working community either if I was working there (assuming that the community is good which I believe it is).
Your question about what the Bay Area benefits are, is a good one. Are there other benefits besides networking?
One relevant note: cost of living is quite high in the San Francisco Bay Area where Eliezer lives.
One obvious workaround might be to live elsewhere. (What are the advantages of living there in particular? Better networking opportunities, maybe? That would certainly be worth the cost—but might it be more efficient to instead have someone whose full-time job was networking to be the one living there, as opposed to someone mostly focused on theoretical research.)
Splitting SIAI to separate geographic locations (polymaths in Cheapistan and some people doing networking in the Bay Area) would create costs in the sense that communication is more tedious with e-mails than face-to-face. I wouldn’t want to split the working community either if I was working there (assuming that the community is good which I believe it is).
Your question about what the Bay Area benefits are, is a good one. Are there other benefits besides networking?
Skype is your third alternative. (I disagree with this argument, but agree with conclusion for other reasons.)