Maybe, given the credibility he has accumulated on all these other topics, you should be willing to trust him on the one issue on which he is asserting this authority and on which it is clear that if he is right, it would be bad to discuss his reasoning.
The well known (and empirically verified) weakness in experts of the human variety is that they tend to be systematically overconfident when it comes to judgements that fall outside their area of exceptional performance - particularly when the topic is one just outside the fringes.
When it comes to blogging about theoretical issues of rationality Eliezer is undeniably brilliant. Yet his credibility specifically when it comes to responding to risks is rather less outstanding. In my observation he reacts emotionally and starts making rookie mistakes of rational thought and action. To the point when I've very nearly responded 'Go read the sequences!' before remembering that he was the flipping author and so should already know better.
Also important is the fact that elements of the decision are about people, not game theory. Eliezer hopefully doesn't claim to be an expert when it comes to predicting or eliciting optimal reactions in others.
Yet his credibility specifically when it comes to responding to risks is rather less outstanding.
We were talking about his credibility in judging whether this idea is a risk, and that is within his area of expertise.
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.