Hamming Questions
Mathematician Richard Hamming used to ask scientists in other fields "What are the most important problems in your field?" partly so he could troll them by asking "Why aren't you working on them?" and partly because getting asked this question is really useful for focusing people's attention on what matters.
I imagine someone being asked this question, and how they should respond. I think like so - ‘Fuck off Richard’.
This is partly because I imagine this question being asked in a kind of snarky, gotcha kind of way, with some sort of nerdy superiority. Like ‘ha your behaviour is inconsistent with your implied preferences, you idiot, do you even von Neumann–Morgenstern?’
And I think ‘fuck off’ is a reasonable response to such an attitude. Or perhaps even better: ‘great question Dick, but a quick one for you first - what are the most important ways to have a conversation with someone where they can sincerely reflect on what matters, and why aren’t you working on that instead of being a dick?’
(I don’t know Richard Hamming personally, nor impersonally and so I don’t know what the vibe of the question actually was. It’s interesting to me that this is the way I imagine the question. This is a little bit gestured to by the ‘troll them’ part of the anecdote, but my imagination really does run away with me here, well beyond what’s described. I think one thing that’s going on is that this anecdote is particularly prized in the EA (and moreso) rationality space, and if I’m imaging an uncharitable version of an EA/ rationality person, this is what they vibe like. To be clear, I actually quite like the EA/ rationality peoples and think there vibes are broadly neutral to good, though this is what the negative version looks like).
Anyway, what if instead, I imagine this question a different way. Instead of with snark, the question is asked with sincerity, kindness and open curiosity. What could I imagine responses being then? Here’s some imaginations:
‘Oh, well to be honest, I’ve just had my second kid and I’m exhausted. I can barely remember my own name let alone try and reorient my career based on my values. I don’t feel great about this, but I don’t know exactly what to about it’
‘Well, I applied to a bunch of jobs in that field last year but got rejected from all of them. I’d still like to be working in that area, and I’m a bit caught between thinking I should try harder, apply to more jobs, spend my spare time skilling up etc. and thinking I should accept that I probably don’t have the ability required.’
‘Hmmm… good question. I guess honestly, I’ve never really thought about it before. But now you mention it, it’s probably worth thinking about it isn’t it… hug’
These kind of responses seem pretty interesting to me. And obviously I’ve just made these all up, but there’s a way in which these kind of answers feel particularly real to me, like they’re actually getting at the heart of what’s going on (and if I imagine a more rational/ philosophical answer, that might feel a bit more fake).
I like the idea of some sort of EA coach that has this Richard Hamming type angle, and also this attitude of open curiosity, and thoughtfulness. (My impression is a bit more focused on a) people being more productive and achieving their goals and habits and tasks and objectives or b) people resolving their trauma or psychological issues, some of which were caused by EA and an unrelenting focus on productivity) (I’m being a bit unfair here, I actually think that the more charitable description of both of these approaches can be quite valuable, and also think that these approaches seem kind of distinct from the EA Hamming coach I have in mind).