I saw the original idea and the discussion around it, but I was (fortunately) under stress at the time and initially dismissed it as so implausible as to be unworthy of serious consideration. Given the reactions to it by Eliezer, Alicorn, and Roko, who seem very intelligent and know more about this topic than I do, I'm not so sure. I do know enough to say that, if the idea is something that should be taken seriously, it's really serious. I can tell you that I am quite happy that the original posts are no longer present, because if they were I am moderately confident that I would want to go back and see if I could make more sense out of the matter, and if Eliezer, Alicorn, and Roko are right about this, making sense out of the matter would be seriously detrimental to my health.
Thankfully, either it's a threat but I don't understand it fully, in which case I'm safe, or it's not a threat, in which case I'm also safe. But I am sufficiently concerned about the possibility that it's a threat that I don't understand fully but might be able to realize independently given enough thought that I'm consciously avoiding extended thought about this matter. I will respond to posts that directly relate to this one but am otherwise done with this topic-- rest assured that, if you missed this one, you're really quite all right for it!
Given the reactions to it by Eliezer, Alicorn, and Roko, who seem very intelligent and know more about this topic than I do, I'm not so sure.
This line of argument really bothers me. What does it mean for E, A, and R to seem very intelligent? As far as I can tell, the necessary conclusion is "I will believe a controversial statement of theirs without considering it." When you word it like that, the standards are a lot higher than "seem very intelligent", or at least narrower- you need to know their track record on decisions like this.
(The controversial statement is "you don't want to know about X," not X itself, by the way.)
Ideally, I'd like to save the world. One way to do that involves contributing academic research, which raises the question of what's the most effective way of doing that.
The traditional wisdom says if you want to do research, you should get a job in a university. But for the most part the system seems to be set up so that you first spend a long time working for someone else and research their ideas, after which you can lead your own group, but then most of your time will be spent on applying for grants and other administrative trivia rather than actually researching the interesting stuff. Also, in Finland at least, all professors need to also spend time doing teaching, so that's another time sink.
I suspect I would have more time to actually dedicate on research, and I could get doing it quicker, if I took a part-time job and did the research in my spare time. E.g. the recommended rates for a freelance journalist in Finland would allow me to spend a week each month doing work and three weeks doing research, of course assuming that I can pull off the freelance journalism part.
What (dis)advantages does this have compared to the traditional model?
Some advantages:
Some disadvantages:
EDIT: Note that while I certainly do appreciate comments specific to my situation, I posted this over at LW and not Discussion because I was hoping the discussion would also be useful for others who might be considering an academic path. So feel free to also provide commentary that's US-specific, say.