Alex (Αλέξανδρος)
Bio
Participation1
Investment professional for most of my career (equity research, managing prop investments for a financial group, private equity and VC advisory, investment algorithms). In my free time, I established an educational NGO and ran it for 13 years.
MBA (Oxon), MA (sociology).
How others can help me
I am looking for friends in the EA community. I am also interested in ways how EA movement can increase its impact.
If you happen to visit Cyprus regularly and would like to join our group please send me a direct message.
How I can help others
I can share my experience in business, NGO and in using philosophy for decision-making.
Posts 3
Comments4
Dear Haris,
Thank you for the interesting comments.
As for Toby Ord's answer, it was in a friendly personal message and I quoted part of it most relevant to the post.
Regarding that some ideas were not unique to the Fabians - you are absolutely right about Mill, one of the people who I admire. Unfortunately, at his time he was unable to do anything to implement his proposal - and I wanted to take into account not only the idea but the implementation, too.
Regarding the rest, I'll be glad to discuss all this personally.
Best wishes,
Alex
"First of all, I want to tip my hat to AIM (formerly Charity Entrepreneurship)"
I think EA community could also be more proactive in helping more EA-aligned business people - potential future big donors - to appear.
Why not form a group of EA activists, who have business experience, in order to:
1) support EA-aligned people starting their business careers - to help them with advice and mentoring regarding how to be more effective and successful in their business careers
2) think about how to support EA-aligned people in their startup ventures (for example, by giving advice on strategy, marketing, fund-raising, investor-relations, etc.)
Marcus, do you want to discuss?
Executive summary: The Fabian Society, a group of British intellectuals, achieved remarkable social and political reforms through evidence-based research, strategic influence of key institutions, and patient advocacy - offering valuable lessons for modern movements like Effective Altruism.
Key points:
- The Fabians succeeded through three main factors: attracting talented people and fostering collaboration, producing rigorous evidence-based research, and strategically spreading their ideas through effectively using media and through "permeation" of institutions.
- Their seemingly radical 1887 program (universal suffrage, worker protections, public education) became mainstream democratic policies, demonstrating the power of patient, strategic reform.
- The Fabians created lasting impact in particular through actively participating in legislative reforms, founding influential institutions (LSE), shaping the Labour Party, and influencing colonial independence movements.
- Lessons for EA include: expanding conference reach through prominent speakers, creating informal international retreats, and developing comprehensive approaches to increase cooperation with governments and strategic partners.
- Success required tolerance of diverse views, professionalism, and commitment to patient and methodical execution of long-term strategic goals.
This timeline is very interesting, and it leads to a question beyond just when: what happens when AI is capable of independent thought and goal-setting? We're focused on mitigating risks, which is crucial. However, we should also consider the moral implications of creating beings capable of:
a) thinking independently, beyond merely fulfilling human-designed requests
b) setting their own goals
How can we ensure a future where humans and advanced AI can co-exist, minimizing suffering for both and maximising the potential benefits of collaboration – from scientific discovery to solving global challenges?