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Links 4/18: Siter Plate
Scott shares a diverse collection of interesting links and news items, covering topics from ancient history to modern politics and technology, with brief commentary on each.
15 min read 2,179 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 essaysSSC
Adult Neurogenesis – A Pointed Review
The post reviews research on adult neurogenesis, initially presenting evidence for its existence and importance, then reveals a new study suggesting it doesn't occur in humans, examining the implications of this potential field-wide error.
25 min read 3,742 words
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Highlights From The Comments On Twelve Rules
Scott Alexander reflects on reader comments about his review of Jordan Peterson's '12 Rules for Life', discussing interpretations of Peterson's philosophy and its impacts.
41 min read 6,219 words
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Are The Amish Unhappy? Super Happy? Just Meh?
Scott Alexander critically examines conflicting studies on Amish happiness levels, finding the research too unreliable to draw firm conclusions.
10 min read 1,521 words
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The Hour I First Believed
Scott Alexander speculates on how concepts from decision theory and AI could lead to the emergence of a God-like entity across the multiverse, which judges and potentially rewards human behavior.
18 min read 2,790 words
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Book Review: Twelve Rules For Life
Scott Alexander reviews Jordan Peterson's 'Twelve Rules For Life', finding it surprisingly insightful and impactful despite some philosophical criticisms.
41 min read 6,320 words
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Navigating And/Or Avoiding The Inpatient Mental Health System
Scott Alexander offers a detailed guide on navigating the inpatient mental health system, balancing caution with the importance of seeking necessary treatment.
55 min read 8,438 words
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The Dark Rule Utilitarian Argument For Science Piracy
Scott Alexander explores the ethics of using Sci-Hub, introducing 'Dark Rule Utilitarianism' to argue that pirating scientific papers could be ethical despite being illegal.
11 min read 1,596 words
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Response To Current Affairs On Against Murderism
Scott Alexander defends his 'Against Murderism' post against Nathan Robinson's criticism, arguing that Robinson misrepresented his arguments and ignored key parts of the original post.
12 min read 1,750 words
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SSC Journal Club: Friston On Computational Mood
Scott reviews a paper proposing a computational model of mood and emotions based on predictive processing, discussing its implications for understanding mood disorders.
20 min read 3,081 words
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God Help Us, Let’s Try To Understand Friston On Free Energy
Scott Alexander attempts to understand and explain Karl Friston's complex 'free energy' principle in neuroscience, exploring its various interpretations and potential implications.
30 min read 4,507 words
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Links 2/18: Link Biao Incident
Scott Alexander presents a wide-ranging collection of links covering science, technology, politics, economics, and culture, with brief commentary on each item.
22 min read 3,339 words
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SSC Journal Club: Cipriani On Antidepressants
Scott Alexander critically examines a major meta-analysis on antidepressant efficacy, noting potential biases and comparing its surprising drug rankings to his own previous analysis.
18 min read 2,764 words
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Highlights From The Comments On Technological Unemployment
Scott summarizes and responds to comments on his technological unemployment article, covering various debates, critiques, and potential explanations for observed trends.
26 min read 3,940 words
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Current Affairs’ “Some Puzzles For Libertarians”, Treated As Writing Prompts For Short Stories
Scott Alexander uses satirical short stories to critique and deconstruct thought experiments challenging libertarian principles, highlighting their flaws and misrepresentations.
35 min read 5,376 words
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Technological Unemployment: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Scott Alexander examines evidence for technological unemployment, finding little current impact but signs of 'technological underemployment' pushing workers to lower-skill jobs.
45 min read 6,822 words
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Five More Years
Scott Alexander provides detailed predictions for the next five years on topics ranging from AI and politics to science and culture, with probability estimates for specific outcomes.
21 min read 3,126 words
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Even More Search Terms That Led People To This Blog
Scott Alexander humorously presents and comments on bizarre search terms that led people to his blog, Slate Star Codex.
8 min read 1,190 words
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More Testimonials For SSC
Scott Alexander presents a collection of negative and often insulting testimonials about himself and his blog Slate Star Codex, showcasing criticism of his writing, personality, and perceived ideologies.
13 min read 1,942 words
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We’ve Got Five Years, What A Surprise
Scott Alexander celebrates Slate Star Codex's fifth anniversary by thanking the many people who have contributed to the blog's success and growth.
8 min read 1,136 words
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Guyenet On Motivation
Scott Alexander explores the motivational system as described in 'The Hungry Brain', connecting it to dopamine, willpower, and predictive processing theory.
13 min read 1,864 words
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Predictions For 2018
Scott Alexander shares his 100 predictions for 2018 on topics like politics, economics, technology, and personal goals, with assigned probabilities for each.
10 min read 1,435 words
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Powerless Placebos
The post examines research suggesting placebos are largely ineffective, explores exceptions, and proposes explanations for observed placebo effects based on brain function and study design.
8 min read 1,173 words
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The Invention Of Moral Narrative
Scott Alexander examines and critiques the claim that good-vs-evil narratives in popular culture are a recent, nationalism-driven phenomenon, offering alternative explanations for their prevalence.
14 min read 2,137 words
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Highlights From The Comments On Conflict Vs. Mistake
Scott Alexander addresses feedback on his conflict vs. mistake theory post, acknowledging criticisms while defending the core concept's usefulness as a starting point for understanding different approaches to societal problems.
33 min read 5,015 words
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