ACX
Links For February 2023
Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of 49 links and brief commentaries on various topics, ranging from cultured meat to AI developments and current events.
40 min read 6,180 words
The independent Scott Alexander archive
Scott Alexander, collected.
Essays, arguments, and unexpected connections. An independent archive of Slate Star Codex, Astral Codex Ten, and LessWrong.
The collection
2,008 essaysACX
Crowds Are Wise (And One's A Crowd)
Scott Alexander investigates the 'wisdom of crowds' hypothesis using survey data, exploring its effectiveness and potential applications.
14 min read 2,145 words
ACX
Book Review Contest Rules 2023
Scott Alexander announces the 2023 Book Review Contest, detailing submission guidelines, prizes, and deadlines for book review entries.
4 min read 492 words
ACX
Mostly Skeptical Thoughts On The Chatbot Propaganda Apocalypse
Scott Alexander argues against the fear of a chatbot propaganda apocalypse, presenting several reasons why its impact would be limited and offering predictions for 2030.
21 min read 3,142 words
ACX
Response To Alexandros Contra Me On Ivermectin
Scott Alexander responds to critiques of his 2021 ivermectin analysis, acknowledging some errors but maintaining his conclusion that ivermectin likely doesn't work for COVID-19.
87 min read 13,335 words
ACX
Mantic Monday 1/30/2023
Scott Alexander discusses recent developments in prediction markets and forecasting, including Metaculus' milestone, PredictIt's legal issues, and various prediction market topics.
31 min read 4,760 words
ACX
Janus' Simulators
Scott Alexander explores the concept of AI as 'simulators' and its implications for AI alignment and human cognition.
19 min read 2,821 words
ACX
You Don't Want A Purely Biological, Apolitical Taxonomy Of Mental Disorders
Scott Alexander argues that a purely biological, apolitical taxonomy of mental disorders is impossible due to ethical and practical considerations that inevitably influence classifications.
10 min read 1,456 words
ACX
Who Predicted 2022?
Scott Alexander analyzes results from a 2022 prediction contest, discussing top performers and methods for improving forecast accuracy.
24 min read 3,720 words
LW
Alexander and Yudkowsky on AGI goals
A technical dialogue between Scott Alexander and Eliezer Yudkowsky exploring why AI alignment is difficult, covering the inapplicability of human moral development analogies, the nature of AI consequentialism, and skepticism about acausal trade as a safety mechanism.
62 min read 9,555 words
ACX
ACX Survey Results 2022
Scott Alexander announces the results of the 2022 ACX survey, providing links to questions, results, and downloadable datasets, with notes on privacy measures and future analyses.
4 min read 469 words
ACX
Which Political Victories Cause Backlash?
Scott Alexander examines why conservative political victories seem to cause public opinion backlashes while liberal victories don't, presenting several theories but remaining uncertain.
6 min read 826 words
ACX
SSC Survey Results On Schooling Types
Scott Alexander analyzes survey data on different schooling types, finding home schooling associated with highest satisfaction but noting significant limitations in the data.
12 min read 1,796 words
ACX
2023 Subscription Drive + Free Unlocked Posts
Scott Alexander announces a subscription drive for Astral Codex Ten, offering samples of subscriber-only content to encourage new subscriptions.
4 min read 584 words
ACX
Conspiracies of Cognition, Conspiracies Of Emotion
Scott Alexander examines two types of conspiracy theories, suggesting they stem from different cognitive processes: unusual evidence processing and emotional priors.
15 min read 2,280 words
ACX
Highlights From The Comments On The Media Very Rarely Lying
Scott Alexander addresses reactions to his claim that media rarely lies, exploring different interpretations of 'lying' and examining specific cases of alleged media deception.
48 min read 7,391 words
ACX
Stage 2 Of Prediction Contest
Scott Alexander announces Stage 2 of the 2023 Prediction Contest, encouraging participants to use any resources to make accurate predictions.
2 min read 291 words
ACX
Even More Bay Area House Party
A satirical account of a Bay Area house party featuring absurd conversations on tech, culture, and startups, ending with the protagonist's plan to profit from the information gained.
23 min read 3,563 words
ACX
How Do AIs' Political Opinions Change As They Get Smarter And Better-Trained?
Scott examines how AI language models' opinions and behaviors evolve as they become more advanced, discussing implications for AI alignment.
28 min read 4,238 words
ACX
Take The 2022 ACX Survey!
Scott Alexander announces the 2022 ACX Survey, highlighting past findings and offering incentives for participation.
2 min read 181 words
ACX
Sorry, I Still Think I Am Right About The Media Very Rarely Lying
Scott Alexander argues that even seemingly extreme media misinformation usually involves misleading presentation of true facts rather than outright fabrication, examining several reader-provided counterexamples.
32 min read 4,925 words
ACX
Links For December 2022
Scott Alexander shares 57 diverse links and brief commentaries on topics ranging from politics and psychology to technology and culture.
35 min read 5,333 words
ACX
Selection Bias Is A Fact Of Life, Not An Excuse For Rejecting Internet Surveys
Scott Alexander argues that selection bias, while a concern, is not a valid reason to automatically reject amateur online surveys, as professional studies also face similar limitations.
7 min read 963 words
ACX
Fact Check: Do All Healthy People Have Mystical Experiences?
Scott fact-checks and disproves a claim that all healthy people have mystical experiences using SSC Survey data.
3 min read 384 words
ACX
The Media Very Rarely Lies
Scott Alexander argues that media rarely lies outright but often misleads through lack of context, making censorship of 'misinformation' problematic.
12 min read 1,749 words
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