Diminishing returns to partying
status: I don't agree with this view as much now, but I'm leaving it up for documentation
original title: EA parties are a waste of time
update: The broader community finds value in having parties where everyone gathers and gets to know each other outside of work. Applying my preferences of social interaction and having fun to saying EA parties is bad as a joke wasn't representative.
It's nice to talk to people and be with them for its own sake and not as a means to an end.
But I've already met a lot of people and talked to a lot of people, and I don't really see the value going to social events anymore. I need to get real work done and think through hard ideas. It's not like I'm finding a project I can support or finding collaborators to work with. If I want to do that, I could just stay home, write a plan, and message people. Hanging around talking to people can only get so far, and I just need to get work done. I have a ton of stuff in my head that I need to write down and I can't do that if I go to parties all day.
I have the idea of paying people to write a blog post about going to a party. They'll write about what they observed; stuff they learned; things that were unexpected or surprising; people they talked to, what was said, if I should connect with them; and overall their subjective experience of being at the party. I like the way Aaron Swartz writes about his life and how it feel like you're experiencing the event as him. It would be cool to read other people's internal experiences of the party and compare them to my own experience of the party. Or I'll just not go to the party and have someone write a summary for me to read. I've also thought about getting someone to pretend to be me and be at the party representing my interests, but that sounds stupid and impractical, and it'll be good enough for someone to be observant, interact with people in an interesting way, and take notes for me.
related: "Being Too Old Is a Beautiful State of Mind" by Sasha Chapin
Also I think people are having too much fun and being dumb. Sure, AGI is gonna kill us in 3 years and you want to enjoy yourself, but it's like I'm the only sober person there. /this is a judgey and bad joke/
Also I shouldn't be talking with people in the coworking area of my group house cause I'm behind on biorisk readings, and I'm distracting myself with talking and not getting important stuff done.
Don't let EA people distract you from doing EA.
