What kind of evidence is it?
Better evidence than I've ever seen in support of the censored idea. I have these well-founded principles, free speech and transparency, and weigh them against the evidence I have in favor of censoring the idea. That evidence is merely 1.) Yudkowsky's past achievements, 2.) his output and 3.) intelligence. That intelligent people have been and are wrong about certain ideas while still being productive and right about many other ideas is evidence to weaken #3. That people lie and deceive to get what they want is evidence against #1 and #2 and in favor of transparency and free speech, which are both already more likely to have a positive impact than the forbidden topic is to have a negative impact.
And what are you trying to tell me with this link? I haven't seen anyone stating numeric probability estimations regarding the forbidden topic. And I won't state one either, I'll just say that it is subjectively improbable enough to ignore it because there are possible too many very-very-low-probability events to take into account (for every being that will harm me if I don't do X there is another being that will harm me if I do X, which cancel out each other). But if you'd like to pull some number out of thin air, go ahead. I won't because I don't have enough data to even calculate the probability of AI going FOOM versus a slow development.
You have failed to address my criticisms of you points, that you are seeking out only examples that support your desired conclusion, and that you are ignoring details that would allow you to construct a narrower, more relevant reference class for your outside view argument.
And what are you trying to tell me with this link?
I was telling you the "ruling out the possibility" is the wrong, (in fact impossible), standard.
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.