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Great presentation! I wish you luck.

By the way, I get tired of saying "impact" since it's cited as a buzzword that people should avoid, especially in business. Do you recommend any synonyms for "impact" (as either a noun or a verb)?

"displacing (the impact of)"?

Thanks for this post Akash, I found it really interesting to read. I definitely agree with your point about how friendly EAs can be when you reach out to them. I think this is something I've been aware of for a while, but it still takes me time to internalise and make myself more willing to reach out to people. But it's definitely something I want to push myself to do more, and encourage other people to do. No one is  going to be unhappy about someone showing an interest in their work and ideas!

Can you be a bit more specific than "aspiring AI researcher?" Eg, are they interested in AI Safety, are they interested in AI research for other EA reasons, etc. 

You might try the East Bay EA/Rationality Housing Board

Some logistical questions:

1. Do either of you speak French or other languages common to Senegal and the Ivory Coast? If not, is the language barrier significant?

2. My understanding is that internet speeds and packet drops in some parts of Africa can be quite bad, in fact so much so that tech blogger Dan Luu used Ben's internet speeds as a baseline for horrible internet on his web bloat article. How do you guys work around this (eg is there good internet in national capitals)? Is this a serious bottleneck to either programming or online engagement (eg reading EA or startup blogs)? Why or why not?

3. Relatedly, what are some important bottlenecks and challenges in programming/designing for an audience that has slower internet, worse hardware, and is presumably less literate and tech savvy? 

It's not particularly associated with the EA community – I think your impression there is correct. I'd say it's more generic nerd jargon than EA jargon. I actually don't think I hear it used especially often in EA.

I honestly don't remember the detailed connotations from Stranger in a Strange Land, but since I'm neither a Martian nor a member of a weird New-Agey Martian cult I don't consider this a huge disadvantage.

I had a detailed comment here, but then I realised I seldom use the word "grok" anyway so I don't have much cause to be nitpicking other people's substitutions. :-P

Another is that I think EA advice to high schoolers is less useful than what we have to say about later decisions. The common sense advice of things like "go to a prestigious university" and "quantitative subjects keep options open more" and "do internships / interesting projects / build CV material" already seems pretty good to me and are widely known.

I generally agree with your point but I do think there are a few things one could suggest e.g.

• Suggesting Economics/PPE  as particularly great options for undergrad that keep options open whilst also leaving significant potential for doing good through career or further study
• Similarly suggesting Econ as a good A-level option
• Suggesting to those wanting to study maths/science at uni to consider something else technical but probably more useful, for example Econ/Econ+Maths or Computer Science (emphasis on "suggest" I realise the danger of pushing people into something they don't want to do)
• Suggesting philosophy as a credible A-level to do! I think it would be good for people to introduced to philosophical ideas earlier
• Making the classic EA point that counterfactual impact as a medic is small! This could save people from doing expensive six year medicine degrees and then have little impact

I know these suggestions aren't all that radical but they could still be somewhat useful. I am also aware that these suggestions would have to be made with care and the danger of being too pushy! 

EDIT: I don't have examples but I'm sure there are certain projects/internships one can do that are higher impact than others e.g. policy-related work

Hi Lincoln and Ben, thanks for doing this! I would love to hear your perspective on the following topic:

Nonprofit entrepreneurship is a dominant career path within EA, with many people excited about the impact that it can achieve. Impact-focused for-profit entrepreneurship is rarely discussed or recommended by EA organizations, with a 2016 article about your startup being one of the only materials on this topic. I have also heard multiple people argue that for-profit entrepreneurship is an inherently less promising path than nonprofit entrepreneurship for various reasons.

What is your view on the value of for-profit entrepreneurship from an EA perspective? Do you believe this career path is undervalued by the EA community and its organizations today? If so, what do you believe people interested in for-profit entrepreneurship should do to found highly impactful organizations? Are there any specific opportunities you think are particularly interesting or exciting in this space?

Thanks in advance!