SSC
LW Party: Bay Area Invitation
Less Wrong is hosting a party in Berkeley for Bay Area SSC readers, with Scott Alexander and the Less Wrong team attending.
1 min read 82 words
A thread through the archive
Less Wrong
Essays tagged “Less Wrong”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Essays on Less Wrong
22 essaysSSC
List Of Passages I Highlighted In My Copy Of Ages Of Discord
Scott Alexander shares and comments on passages from Peter Turchin's 'Ages of Discord', exploring historical cycles of unity and polarization in American society.
9 min read 1,364 words
SSC
Some Clarifications On Rationalist Blogging
Scott Alexander clarifies that his blog Slate Star Codex is not strictly representative of the rationalist community, and addresses common misconceptions about the blog's relationship to rationalism and effective altruism.
5 min read 665 words
SSC
The Tails Coming Apart As Metaphor For Life
The post explores how correlated variables can diverge at extreme values, applying this concept to happiness measures and moral systems.
15 min read 2,310 words
SSC
Links 9/17: HURLy-bURLy
Scott Alexander shares interesting links on diverse topics including Russian life comparisons, AI developments, scientific discoveries, cultural evolution, and various research findings, with brief commentary on each.
14 min read 2,125 words
SSC
Contra Hallquist On Scientific Rationality
Scott Alexander defends Less Wrong and Eliezer Yudkowsky against accusations of being anti-scientific, arguing that developing rational thinking skills beyond traditional scientific methods is valuable and necessary.
70 min read 10,781 words
LW
2014 Survey Results
Scott presents the results of the 2014 Less Wrong survey covering demographics, beliefs, community participation, and various psychological measures from 1503 respondents.
32 min read 4,809 words
SSC
On Types of Typologies
Scott defends the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a useful, if unscientific, tool for categorizing personalities, comparing it to European country classifications.
9 min read 1,258 words
SSC
Not Even A Real Links Post, Just A Blatant Ad
Scott Alexander promotes a charity event, encouraging donations to MIRI or Sankara Eye Foundation to help them win valuable services.
2 min read 213 words
SSC
Can It Be Wrong To Crystallize Patterns?
Scott Alexander examines the process of 'crystallizing patterns' in thinking, discussing its benefits and potential pitfalls across various domains.
15 min read 2,211 words
SSC
Five Years and One Week of Less Wrong
Scott Alexander reflects on five years of Less Wrong, highlighting the community's intellectual progress in various areas of rationality and philosophy.
18 min read 2,683 words
SSC
Searching For One-Sided Tradeoffs
Scott Alexander discusses the concept of one-sided tradeoffs, using examples from college admissions to life hacks, and suggests ways to find opportunities for 'free' gains in various decisions.
18 min read 2,790 words
SSC
Housekeeping Post February 2014
Scott celebrates the blog's first birthday, announces travel plans, and makes various requests and announcements related to the blog and community.
2 min read 306 words
SSC
Predictions For 2014
Scott Alexander lists 60 predictions for 2014 across global events, online communities, and personal life, assigning probabilities to each.
6 min read 908 words
LW
Rationalists Are Less Credulous But Better At Taking Ideas Seriously
Scott uses Less Wrong survey data to show that experienced rationalists are actually less likely than newcomers to believe cryonics will work, yet more likely to sign up for it, demonstrating that rationalist training teaches people to act on beliefs rather than making them more credulous.
7 min read 977 words
SSC
November Housekeeping Post
Scott Alexander provides updates on the Less Wrong survey, his NYC trip, an upcoming meetup, and asks for lawn care advice.
3 min read 349 words
SSC
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
SSC
A defense of logical positivism (yes, really)
Scott Alexander defends logical positivism, arguing that despite its flaws, it points to useful ideas about dividing meaningful statements into scientific and logical categories.
8 min read 1,217 words
SSC
You’re probably wondering why I’ve called you here today
Scott Alexander introduces his new blog, Slate Star Codex, and explains its ethos of 'charity over absurdity' in intellectual discourse.
5 min read 627 words
LW
Philosophers and seeking answers
Scott explores whether philosophers genuinely seek answers or prefer endless debate, noting that while philosophy generates many solutions to problems, it lacks mechanisms like scientific experimentation to settle which solutions are correct.
3 min read 387 words
LW
Rationalist Poetry Fans, Unite!
Scott shares and comments on favorite rationalist poetry by Pope, Omar Khayyam, Piet Hein and Byron to show that poetry and rationality have long been allies.
22 min read 3,358 words
LW
The Mystery of the Haunted Rationalist
Using a haunted mansion thought experiment, Scott argues that one mind can hold separate levels of belief about ghosts: what it professes, what it bets on, and what it fears.
6 min read 890 words