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Links for June
Scott shares and comments on various interesting links and articles covering topics like science, economics, language, and culture, with his characteristic mix of insight and humor.
6 min read 894 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
Hasta La Victorians Siempre
Scott Alexander critiques a paper claiming superior Victorian health, finding issues with its key arguments while agreeing on some points about diet-linked disease increases.
24 min read 3,628 words
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Literally Inconceivable: Contraceptives And Abortion Rates
Scott Alexander analyzes the complex relationship between contraception and abortion rates, concluding that in societies where contraceptives are already legal, increasing access likely decreases abortion rates.
20 min read 3,043 words
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Hansonian Optimism
Scott Alexander uses a king-and-viziers analogy to argue that people can be inherently good even when their actions seem selfish, and explores the nature of evil and human goodness.
8 min read 1,224 words
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Wisdom of the Ancients, Redux
Scott responds to authors of a Victorian intelligence paper, remaining skeptical of their findings and addressing critiques of his original post on IQ change speeds.
6 min read 862 words
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Fetal Attraction: Abortion and the Principle of Charity
Scott Alexander argues that claims about pro-lifers secretly wanting to oppress women are uncharitable and likely false, and that we should engage with actual philosophical disagreements on abortion.
32 min read 4,918 words
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Transhumanist Fables
Scott Alexander rewrites classic fairy tales to illustrate transhumanist and rationalist concepts, each ending with a moral lesson related to these philosophies.
6 min read 822 words
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The World Is Flat And Intensively Farmed
Scott Alexander describes a trip to the Midwest with his father, highlighting regional charm and his father's practical nature, ending with the purchase of a Subaru in Detroit.
2 min read 250 words
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Going From California With An Aching In My Heart.
Scott Alexander bids farewell to California's Bay Area, praising its culture and the rationalist community while offering heartfelt tributes to friends who influenced him.
20 min read 2,997 words
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Apart From Better Sanitation And Medicine And Education And Irrigation And Public Health And Roads And Public Order, What Has Modernity Done For Us?
Scott Alexander uses historical data to refute the Reactionary claim that modern society increases war, showing instead that violence has decreased significantly in progressive eras.
12 min read 1,843 words
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The Wisdom of the Ancients
Scott Alexander debunks a study claiming Victorians were smarter than modern people, showing it's based on flawed data comparison and ignores crucial factors like selection bias and demographics.
15 min read 2,281 words
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Can You Condition Yourself?
Scott Alexander critically examines the concept of self-conditioning, expressing skepticism while considering potential benefits and deciding to experiment with the technique.
15 min read 2,214 words
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Against Bravery Debates
Scott Alexander criticizes 'bravery debates' as toxic and unproductive, explaining psychological factors that lead to their persistence and recommending against engaging in them.
14 min read 2,138 words
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Newtonian Ethics
Scott satirically proposes and 'proves' that morality is a form of gravity, using pseudo-scientific reasoning and calculations.
7 min read 1,078 words
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Index: Posts on Raikoth
Scott Alexander provides an index of his blog posts about Raikoth, a constructed society he created, covering various aspects of its culture and structure.
1 min read 117 words
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Links For May
Scott shares and comments on various interesting links, including critiques of science journalism, updates on scientific discoveries, and various cultural curiosities.
9 min read 1,258 words
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Overheard In The Box, Part II
Mike humorously recounts grounding morality in IHOP's waffles after a meta-ethics discussion, highlighting the challenges in reaching agreement on such topics.
1 min read 75 words
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Raikoth: History, Religion
The post describes the fictional world of Raikoth, its origin story, and its unique religion that combines aspects of Truth and Beauty.
8 min read 1,100 words
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Raikoth: Economics, Relationships
The post details the economic and relationship systems of Raikoth, a fictional society designed to optimize for goodness and weirdness.
9 min read 1,304 words
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Overheard in the Box
Two individuals share childhood misconceptions: Davis thought secrets weren't real, and Julia believed stars were just a poetic metaphor.
1 min read 94 words
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Raikoth: Symbolic Beads
Scott Alexander describes a fictional society's use of symbolic bead necklaces to redirect status games towards charitable giving.
9 min read 1,300 words
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Wikifying the blog list
Scott announces a new wiki page cataloguing blogs by Less Wrong community members, asking readers to add their own blogs and help maintain the list.
2 min read 272 words
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Raikoth: Cities, Land
The post details the housing, urban planning, and land use in Raikoth, a fictional country where people live in yurts and cities are designed for cleanliness and tranquility.
10 min read 1,521 words
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Raikoth: Corruption, Priesthood
The post details the Third Eye surveillance system and Priesthood of Truth in the fictional society of Raikoth, exploring how these institutions work to prevent corruption and maintain social order.
9 min read 1,389 words
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Raikoth: Laws, Language, and Society
Scott Alexander presents Raikoth, his fictional utopian society, which strives for perfection in language, government, and population through unique systems and practices.
20 min read 2,956 words
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