A thread through the archive
Essays tagged “public opinion”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Scott analyzes the Pentagon's threatening tactics against Anthropic for refusing to remove Usage Policy restrictions from their contract, arguing this represents unprecedented authoritarian overreach and supporting Anthropic's stance against mass surveillance.
Scott Alexander examines why conservative political victories seem to cause public opinion backlashes while liberal victories don't, presenting several theories but remaining uncertain.
Scott Alexander explores how minority views can be silenced through social censorship, using a 'first offender model' to explain the maintenance of taboos despite significant private support.
Scott Alexander examines how Trump's presidency has unexpectedly decreased support for his own policies, analyzing polls and proposing several explanations for this counterintuitive trend.
The post contrasts public reactions to the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Margaret Thatcher, highlighting inconsistent moral standards in celebrating or condemning deaths of public figures.