My apologies if this comment is somewhat naive, but wouldn't it have been a more objective move to appoint an external headhunting company to supply a first group of candidates at least? This may also have brought in a more diverse group of candidates to select from, e.g. moral philosophers with management experience in a university or community setting who might not be part of the EA community (yet) but be sympathetic to it and who could be brought quickly up to speed on its issues.

Thanks for this info, Zach. It's a great relief to know we have disentangled from FTX and fulfilled our obligations to the bankruptcy estate. (My heart goes out to all the investors who were hurt by SBF and co.) People like myself who are considering applying to EA funds can now do so with a clear conscience.

The move to decentralise is very welcome. This will reduce the potential for groupthink and confirmation bias among EA initiatives, while hopefully maintaining committment to overall goals.

The balancing act between increasing diversity (and the improved collective intelligence that brings) and the resulting requirement for better coordinating ability is a fine one. Continuous dialog, epistemic humility, and iterative improvements will be key to success.

Having some expertise in complex systems (several certifications from the Santa Fe Institute) and also in deliberative democracy/collective intelligence, I can fully support what the authors of this post say about EA's shortcomings in these areas. (I agree with most of the other points also.) The EA community would do well to put its most epistemically humble hat on and try to take these well-meant, highly articulate criticisms on board.

How can I change my user name in my profile?