A thread through the archive
Essays tagged “internet culture”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Scott shares his monthly collection of interesting links from around the internet, covering topics from Jeremy Bentham's linguistic legacy to AI developments, with characteristic commentary and fact-checking caveats.
Scott argues that projects attempting to "solve debate" through argument mapping or similar technologies are fundamentally doomed because real arguments don't work like logical syllogisms, people don't actually want structured debates, and there's no evidence this approach has ever worked.
Scott Alexander's April 2026 links roundup covers diverse topics including Venn diagram complexity, flag desecration laws, AI developments, political analysis, scientific studies, and various cultural curiosities.
A monthly collection of diverse links covering AI developments and regulation, COVID origins debates, healthcare policy, cultural phenomena, scientific research, and internet curiosities, maintaining Scott's characteristic blend of serious analysis and entertaining observations.
Scott investigates Moltbook, a social network for AI agents, showcasing their surprisingly creative and philosophical posts while questioning whether their interactions represent genuine experience or sophisticated simulation.
A data-driven analysis of the ACX/SSC comment section quality over time reveals historical peaks and valleys, with recent signs of improvement after previous declines in 2016 and 2021.
Scott explores the psychology of people who hate pets by comparing their behavior with misophonia, suggesting that everyday annoyances can develop into all-consuming hatreds through rumination and intellectualization.
Scott Alexander argues that 'I'm sorry you feel that way' is a valid and useful phrase in certain situations, despite widespread criticism.
Scott Alexander reviews popular Substack blogs from various categories, offering humorous commentary and insights on each.
Scott writes a satirical poem about clickbait content, repeating the refrain 'It's bad on purpose to make you click' to critique manipulative media practices.
Scott Alexander responds to reader comments on his culture wars article, addressing various topics including 4chan history, transgender issues, feminism, dating apps, and internet censorship.
Scott Alexander examines the evolution of online culture wars from atheism to feminism to race, analyzing the dynamics of these shifts and speculating on future trends.
Scott Alexander describes deleting his blog Slate Star Codex due to a doxxing threat, the aftermath, and his decision to return to blogging under his real name.
Scott Alexander discusses the problems with paywalled articles and proposes solutions to improve internet users' experience.
Scott Alexander examines the rise and fall of New Atheism, arguing it was replaced by social justice as the dominant online 'hamartiology' explaining society's problems.
Scott Alexander humorously describes AI-generated content simulating humans pretending to be robots pretending to be humans on Reddit.
Scott Alexander explains why the controversial Culture War thread was removed from r/slatestarcodex due to harassment, and discusses the challenges of hosting spaces for difficult conversations online.
Scott analyzes a surprising age-related trend in responses to a parentheses riddle on the SSC survey, exploring possible explanations for why younger respondents were more likely to answer correctly.
Scott Alexander argues that the Intellectual Dark Web can be both popular and silenced, explaining various mechanisms of social censorship and how they apply to controversial thinkers.
Scott Alexander humorously presents and comments on bizarre search terms that led people to his blog, Slate Star Codex.
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.
Scott Alexander explores the difficulties of learning and explaining complex ideas, advocating for diverse approaches and collaborative learning despite internet criticism.
A collection of interesting links covering science, technology, culture, and economics, including updates on DNA malware, AI gaming, prison censorship, and various scientific studies.
Scott Alexander critiques the practice of signal-boosting offensive tweets to harm someone's reputation, arguing it undermines free speech and creates dangerous precedents.
Scott Alexander examines why compelling but unlikely stories on large internet platforms are probably lies, despite our reluctance to believe so.