Status: highly speculative, 1-hour braindump; curious which of these points would be valuable for me to flesh out, or what seems flat-out wrong.

• I identify as an EA. Unlike 97% of you, I also identify as a practicing Catholic
  • When I mentioned this at a recent meetup, someone was like “oh you should meet <the literal other practicing Catholic>”
  • Weird, right? 1B Catholics among 8b people imply 12% base rates.
• Am I qualified to write this post? Shrug.
  • EA credentials: Founder at Manifold Markets, more than half our funding is from EA sources. Took the GWWC pledge.
  • Catholic credentials: I still go to church every week; pescatarian diet inspired by Lenten Fridays
  • Notably: Not super involved with either community; most of my friends are neither EA nor Catholic
• FWIW, more EA than Catholic at this point

Why EAs should learn from Catholicism

• Catholicism has succeeded
  • If EA aims to be effective, we may want to study its success
    • And, of course, avoid its failures
  • Tithing is a well-established idea (this is why I personally took the GWWC pledge)
  • Catholicism and EA are both demanding
• There’s a lot of actual alignment!

Alignment between EA and Catholicism

• Look at the Nicene Creed
  • God
    • AGI? Creator of our simulation?
  • Sin
    • Importance of morality; that there is a right and a wrong thing to do, and we often do wrong, but we can strive to do right
  • Hell: X-Risk. Heaven: Utopia
  • Resurrection/eternal life: If we get this right, we get it right forever
  • Holy Spirit
    • Ever present, always with us
• Kinds of things EA and Catholic Church demand of members
  • To maintain alignment in service to EA
    • “Love your god with all your heart, soul, spirit, might”
  • To equate the desires of other people with their own desires
    • “Love your neighbor as yourself”
  • To do the most good (parable of talents)
• Warning: May be motivated reasoning; eg tempting think I was right all along by practicing Catholicism
  • But occasionally, it’s good to have something to motivate your reasoning, esp to bring up a bunch of points outside the overton window

Things EAs can learn from Catholicism

• Commitment
  • Closing out of total opportunity space in order to achieve a group goal
  • Schelling point/game theoretic stuff: how to operationalize it
  • Commandments
    • You shall not have any other gods: EA is not compatible with some beliefs, like hedonism
    • Love your neighbor as yourself: Utilitarianism in a nutshell
    • Do not kill/steal/covet relationships: Universalizability
    • Honor your parents: importance of respecting ancestors.
      • We talk about protecting the future, but what about the past? Out of 100B humans to have ever existed, we are only 8B.
      • “What we owe the past”
• Rituals
  • Sacraments
    • Confirmation - I stand up and avow that I commit to being part of this movement
    • Confession - Speaking to someone about what I’ve done wrong ⇒ having an outlet for forgiveness; acknowledging where I’ve made mistakes
    • Priesthood - I am now committed to serve the community
    • Matrimony - I am now committed to serve this other person
  • Fasting, suffering
    • Suffering is not a thing to be avoided in your personal life
  • Holidays
    • “More Rationalist holidays”
  • Rituals are a unifying force for bringing members together
    • Worry: are they exclusionary?
• Community
  • How to coordinate on a massive group problem: keep everyone on the same page
  • You have to go to mass every week, or you go to hell. This is what I literally believed as a kid
    • Then: After mass, you get to eat snacks!
    • And then: Sit in a classroom with a cohort of people you like, and learn from a teacher
  • Rationality has dojos? EA should have churches.
    • Enough “independent alignment research”, that’s not how anything actually gets done
• Physical churches
  • This place that you can show up to and get help
  • This place you know anyone is always welcome
  • This place where we set aside earthly concerns and focus on the mission
  • Tragedy that REACH dissolved