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intelligence
Essays tagged “intelligence”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Essays on intelligence
22 essaysACX
Missing Heritability: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Scott explores the 'missing heritability' problem in genetics, where twin studies show traits like IQ and educational attainment are highly heritable but newer genomic methods find much lower heritability, analyzing various potential explanations for this discrepancy.
68 min read 10,491 words
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Why Should Intelligence Be Related To Neuron Count?
Scott investigates the correlation between intelligence and neuron count, exploring various theories before suggesting that more neurons allow for less polysemantic (overlapping) representations of concepts.
10 min read 1,533 words
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Highlights From The Comments On Lynn And IQ
Scott responds to comments about Lynn's IQ data, addressing how IQ testing might break down in under-educated populations and how this relates to the apparent disconnect between test scores and real-world capabilities.
27 min read 4,037 words
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Sakana, Strawberry, and Scary AI
Scott Alexander examines how AI achievements, once considered markers of true intelligence or danger, are often dismissed as unimpressive, potentially leading to concerning AI behaviors being normalized.
17 min read 2,583 words
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We're Not Platonists, We've Just Learned The Bitter Lesson
Scott Alexander argues that intelligence is a useful, non-Platonic concept, and that this understanding supports the coherence of AI risk concerns.
18 min read 2,738 words
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Study: Ritalin Works, But School Isn't Worth Paying Attention To
Scott Alexander analyzes a study showing Concerta improves ADHD children's attention but not their learning, and speculates on the reasons behind this unexpected result.
10 min read 1,488 words
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Non-Cognitive Skills For Educational Attainment Suggest Benefits Of Mental Illness Genes
Scott Alexander examines a genetic study distinguishing cognitive and non-cognitive skills in educational attainment, revealing unexpected correlations with mental health conditions.
8 min read 1,173 words
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Book Review: The Cult Of Smart
Scott Alexander reviews 'The Cult of Smart' by Freddie DeBoer, praising its main arguments while criticizing several aspects, particularly DeBoer's stance on education reform.
58 min read 8,989 words
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Autism And Intelligence: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Scott Alexander examines the paradoxical relationship between autism and intelligence, discussing genetic and environmental factors, and proposing explanatory models for the observed lower IQ in autistic individuals despite genetic links to higher intelligence.
16 min read 2,442 words
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[PARTIALLY RETRACTED] Cortical Neuron Number Matches Intuitive Perceptions Of Moral Value Across Animals
Scott Alexander finds a correlation between animals' cortical neuron count and people's intuitive perception of their moral value, based on a small survey.
6 min read 874 words
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The Omnigenic Model As Metaphor For Life
Scott Alexander uses the evolution of genetic science as a metaphor to explore how other fields might benefit from recognizing the polycausal nature of complex phenomena.
13 min read 1,878 words
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Where The Falling Einstein Meets The Rising Mouse
Scott Alexander explores theories to reconcile contradictory views on AI progress rates, considering the implications for AI development timelines and intelligence scaling.
17 min read 2,607 words
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Myers’ Race Car Versus The General Fitness Factor
Scott Alexander refutes PZ Myers' race car analogy against genetic engineering for intelligence, showing that high IQ positively correlates with many beneficial traits.
23 min read 3,458 words
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Things That Are Not Superintelligences
Scott Alexander refutes claims that existing collective entities are superintelligent AIs, emphasizing the fundamental differences between collective intelligence and true superintelligence.
9 min read 1,388 words
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No Clarity Around Growth Mindset
Scott Alexander critically examines the concept of growth mindset, expressing skepticism despite compelling studies and discussing various issues with the theory and its interpretation.
35 min read 5,344 words
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Talents Part 2: Attitude vs. Altitude
Scott Alexander uses NBA player heights as an analogy to discuss intelligence and IQ, advocating for a balanced view that acknowledges both innate talent and effort.
13 min read 1,993 words
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The Parable Of The Talents
Scott Alexander examines the concept of innate ability and argues for its acceptance, while cautioning against tying self-worth to intellectual achievement.
41 min read 6,231 words
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Does the Glasgow Coma Scale exist? Do comas?
Scott Alexander defends the validity of intelligence and IQ tests by comparing them to comas and the Glasgow Coma Scale in medicine.
20 min read 3,056 words
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More Links for November
Scott shares a diverse collection of interesting links and brief commentary on topics ranging from unusual video games to genetic research and political oddities.
11 min read 1,561 words
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Things I Don’t Understand About Genetics (A Non-Exhaustive List)
Scott Alexander discusses his confusion about polygenic inheritance, mutational load, and the paternal age effect in genetics, seeking explanations from readers.
8 min read 1,097 words
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The Lottery of Fascinations
Scott Alexander compares reactions to coming out as gay versus disliking math, introducing the concept of a 'Things To Be Fascinated About Lottery' to explain diverse interests and talents.
13 min read 1,951 words