Our Inclusion Aim

 

Why we feel this is important

As a community, we want as many talented people as possible helping to solve the world’s most pressing problems. A lack of diversity within a community - diversity of demographics, of opinions, of skill sets and of experience - can become self-reinforcing, which can severely limit the ability of a community to effect change. Even when we don’t consciously exclude people, being the only representative of a certain demographic can make people feel uncomfortable or out of place, whilst in-group jargon and discussions that require specialised knowledge can be very off-putting to new members. It’s not enough to have good intentions - these things happen by default and through unconscious systematic biases unless we think carefully about how our actions will be interpreted, and so as a committee we take this issue very seriously.

 

The culture we’d like to establish

We endorse the Centre for Effective Altruism’s Guiding Principles of i) Commitment to Others, ii) Scientific Mindset, iii) Openness, iv) Integrity and v) Collaborative Spirit.

Below we try to spell out what exactly we think this means for the EA Oxford community.

  • A culture of coordinated empowerment - we all want to do good, and helping each other is one of the best ways to do that

  • A norm of considering the bigger picture - emphasising more than just direct impact

  • An awareness that the long-run impact of our community members will likely significantly outweigh the short-run impact. Doing the most good is a marathon, not a sprint. Though widespread, for most people shame and guilt are not sustainable long-run motivators to do good.

  • High tolerance for social faux pas and assuming the best intentions in others (though this should not serve as a universal excuse for insensitive or inappropriate behaviour)

  • Being conscious and aware of others’ feelings, and that different people will interpret different types of communication and behaviour differently

  • No shaming for different cause/career/degree/life choices - we want to encourage healthy, cooperative discussions about how best we can positively impact the world; we don’t want people feeling inferior because of a difference in opinion or personal situation.

  • (Epistemic) Humility in our treatment of EA issues. Don’t judge that someone is wrong before ensuring you know their reasoning. You can disagree with people while entirely respecting their positions, appreciating their contributions, and recognising them as an ally - let’s learn from each other’s differences.

  • No opinions held as unquestionably right. Dogma is antithetical to (moral) progress.

  • Support for all who want to become more effectively altruistic - emphasising that doing the most good will necessarily mean different things for different people. Speaking in generalities can sometimes come across as advocating a one-size-fits-all approach.

  • A community which rewards behaviour that is in line with our guiding principles, such as apologising and/or changing one’s mind when realising that one has made a mistake or caused hurt, and calls out behaviour that is contrary to our guiding principles, such as the use of aggressive communication styles.

  • An awareness of and attempt to address problems arising from systematic subconscious biases that could unintentionally lead to some people being excluded from the community.

 

Concrete Behavioural Guidelines

We encourage members of the Effective Altruism community in Oxford to abide by the following:

  • Consider the bigger picture, in everything you do. The good you can do does not just encompass the direct impact of your actions, but also how they influence other people. Be friendly, considerate, honest and well intentioned.

  • Try to keep the discussion accessible to people without specific knowledge (e.g. in AI safety or philosophy) if you don’t know everyone you’re speaking to - be willing to speak about all of the different aspects of effective altruism.

  • Be open to learning from others - figure out how each individual’s perspective can add to effective altruism’s perspective, not what effective altruism can subtract from their perspective.

  • Do not consider anyone’s arguments or positions above questioning or criticism.

  • Don’t dismiss or trivialise the altruistic concerns people have, even if you have reason to think that something else is more effective. We want to be warm and conscientious rather than cold and calculating.

  • Alphabet soup - clarify what you mean whenever you use an acronym, a piece of jargon, or reference a person so newcomers aren’t left wondering “What is CEA?” or “Who is Holden?”

  • Remember that the words you use, and the way in which you communicate them, have effects on the people you are communicating with. Think about whether what you're saying might hurt someone before you say it

  • Don’t interrupt people.

  • If you see something, say something - don’t leave the reporting of problematic behaviour to the people who directly experience it. They may be feeling disempowered and often have less power than you do to do something about it.

  • If you experience something, you can contact our Diversity and Inclusion Officers, speak to one of the event organisers, or contact us anonymously.