Why do so many people who consider themselves to be (aspiring) rationalists live in the second most expensive city in America?
I'd like to see a worked cost-benefit analysis. (Shut up and multiply; If it's worth doing it's worth doing with made up numbers.)
Justify yourselves!
A modest proposal:
The 100 most tightly connected rationalists should move to Raleigh, NC. Those who can not get equivalent jobs should be paid by the others in a Coasian bargain.
Raleigh is a tech hub, so those with tech dayjobs can get equivalent jobs.
MIRI and CFAR should just move their headquarters.
The cost of living in Raleigh is 46% less than San Francisco and 8% less than the national median.
It's a real city with culture and universities and such.
The Rats claim to be utilitarians, so they should do the math.
The lowered cost of living alone should make it easier to attract new members.
The group move means they keep their personal networks.
(Any one person might not take the risk of moving away, but at 100 people it seems like a clear win.)
(I have no attachment to Raleigh. It's just that I happen to know it's a tech hub.)
If its entrepreneurial ecosystem is less than San Francisco's, well, is it enough less to justify the increased costs of the second most expensive city in America?
Why be poor in Paris when you can be rich in Versailles?