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Andre Santos 🔸

Events Manager @ EA Switzerland
22 karmaJoined Working (0-5 years)
Interests:
Building effective altruismAI safetyAnimal welfareGlobal health & development

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4

Too many people in EA underprice the cost of a bad reputation
Andre Santos 🔸2
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Thanks for writing this Grace, I think this is an important point that isn't discussed enough.

I would add that the cost of a bad reputation is, in some cases, actually very visible. I see it when EA-aligned orgs doing political and advocacy work choose to hide (or be discreet about) their EA association. If there was no cost of a bad reputation, they wouldn't go through all that extra work.

Perhaps a point for another discussion, but I wonder if EA will ever have a good reputation?

An org's reputation is sensitive to a single bad event or individual. Most organisations have a top-down hierarchy, and can control their reputation by setting and enforcing norms around how it should be presented in public, and overseeing most decisions that can negatively influence their reputation (such as who to hire). EA doesn't have this top-down control. 

And while a bad reputation is often warranted for the org or individual that earned it, the cost doesn't just stay with them, even when the decision isn't representative of the movement. Manifund's hiring decision is an example of a single org unilaterally making a decision that can impact the entire movement's reputation.

So I wonder: if we put a lot of effort into EA's reputation, can that outweigh the occasional very bad decisions? 

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Open thread: October - December 2024
Andre Santos 🔸3
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Hey Vasco, many thanks for the warm welcome! I'll make sure to join you whenever I'm back in Lisbon :)

I'm from Madeira, the best of all the islands (totally unbiased opinion!). Have you been?

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Open thread: October - December 2024
Andre Santos 🔸1
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Likewise and thanks Lund. But I would disagree, your newsletter looks great!

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Open thread: October - December 2024
Andre Santos 🔸11
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Hi everyone!

I'm Andre, I'm 25 and am currently living in Ireland. I found the EA community after reading the book The Life You Can Save, which resonated strongly with me! So much so that I'm currently reconsidering my plans and will possibly change careers to something with a positive impact (I currently work in the assisted/autonomous driving industry). I've been learning about the EA movement every since I found out about it, and I'm looking forward to the next session of the EA Introductory Program and to meeting people in the community.

A fun fact about me is that I actually come from a small Portuguese island in the Atlantic. From my childhood home it would take me 15 minutes to either get to the sea or to get lost in a mountain - I think that because of this, I now love the natural world.

Anyway, looking forward to learning more about the community and meeting some of you :D

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