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What is e/acc?

e/acc stands for effective accelerationism.

Effective Accelerationists, also known as accelerationists, believe that the path to a better future lies in the continued acceleration of technology development, proliferation and adoption, in particular Artificial Intelligence. Effective Accelerationists tend to be pro-freedom, pro-capitalism, pro-technology. The community is loose-knit, informal, open to new members and new contributions.

History of e/acc

Originally founded by Beff Jezos (see: Founders of e/acc) during the years of the Covid Pandemic , effective accelerationists want to accelerate technology into the future.

The name is a riff on EA, the Effective Altruist movement. Importantly, however, the two movements are not affiliated -- neither is a fork or an offshoot of the other. It is more correct to understand e/acc as a philosophical rebuttal to the gluttonous excess of EA.

In contrast to the Effective Altruism movement, Effective Accelerationism is bottom-up, grassroots, and proposes social good via the development of technology as opposed to social good via bureaucratic schemes planned on a spreadsheet by the elites.

Accelerationists stand in contrast to Decels and Doomers, groups that want to slow, halt, reverse technology, restrict it to the elites. Notable Decels include Eliezer Yudkowsky , Liron Shapira, and Sam Altman

Effective Accelerationism gained serious legitimacy and broad acceptance in Silicon Valley during 2023, when notable individuals such as Martin Shkreli, Marc Andreesen, Chris Prucha, and Garry Tan became vocal supporters and members of the e/acc community.

On September 15th 2023, e/acc experienced an internal crisis over the role of anonymity in e/acc, where major thought leaders in the movement Martin Shkreli and Beff Jezos expressed verbal disagreement over whether anonymity is supported and protected in the movement. This crisis was resolved by Beff's unilateral proclamation that "anonymity is fundamental to the movement and must be protected at all costs."

Foundational philosophy

Main Page: Philosophy of e/acc

To call oneself an Accelerationist is an enviable title that not all will attain.

Accelerationists are builders.
Accelerationists are optimists.
Accelerationists hold that technology is the fundamental, principle driving force for human flourishing.
Accelerationists pay honor to the Sun.

Accelerationists reject attempts by AI doomers and decels to establish monopolistic control of technology.

A longer discussion of e/acc tenets can be found at: https://effectiveaccelerationism.substack.com/p/repost-notes-on-eacc-principles-and

Forks of e/acc

e/acc has accumulated a number of forks during its lifetime. The principle of forking has been officially sanctioned by founder Beff Jezos.

Some noteworthy forks include:

How to get involved

Twitter community

Effective Accelerationism has a thriving Twitter community, but is not limited to any specific medium. Ground rules are:

Optimism
Share what you're building
Accelerate

Notable members:

Main Page: List of Notable Accelerationists

Based Daedalus keeps an informal roster of current members.

Critiques of e/acc

There are a number of critiques of e/acc. One is that it is too optimistic about the potential of technology to solve all of our problems. It is argued that technology can also be used for harmful purposes, such as creating new weapons or exacerbating social inequality.

Some argue that, while e/acc is fundamentally apolitical, it runs the risk of attracting bad actors with its co-opting of Nick Land’s accelerationism movement, which is widely regarded as a fascist ideology for its emphasis on extreme racism and authoritarianism.

Another critique is that e/acc ignores the risks of unintended consequences. For example, the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) could lead to existential risks, such as an AI that becomes superintelligent and decides to destroy humanity.

Finally, e/acc is criticized for being elitist. It is argued that the benefits of technological progress will only accrue to the wealthy and powerful, while the poor and marginalized will be left behind.

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