The reader’s shortlist
Essays ranked by captured source likes. Essays without a saved count are listed last.
Scott Alexander examines whether psychiatric conditions result from evolutionary failures or tradeoffs, proposing that most disorders involve a combination of both.
Scott Alexander examines prediction markets suggesting that replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee could significantly improve the party's chances in the 2024 election.
Two psychiatrists conduct an adversarial review of Adam Kay's 'This Is Going To Hurt,' debating whether his NHS memoir represents institutional failure causing PTSD or a self-inflicted martyr complex, while examining the book's comedy, structure, and impact on healthcare discourse.
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.
Scott Alexander investigates the reliability of dietary supplements, finding that while issues exist, most are not completely fake as some media reports claim.
Scott Alexander discusses the political battle over California's AI safety bill SB 1047, its veto by Governor Newsom, and the implications for future AI regulation efforts.
Scott Alexander examines why some people struggle to acknowledge others' preferences that deviate from social norms, drawing from personal experiences and psychological theories.
A review of G.K. Chesterton's 'The Ballad of the White Horse', examining its themes of hope, fate, and the need for constant renewal in preserving what is valuable.
A detailed review of a 1995 paper introducing the PDAPP mouse model for Alzheimer's disease, examining how its limitations were overlooked and shaped decades of potentially misguided Alzheimer's research.
Scott Alexander argues that altruism and vitalism mostly align in practice, and that focusing on their theoretical divergences often stems from signaling rather than genuine pursuit of societal improvement.
Scott analyzes whether AI forecasters will plateau near human levels or keep improving, arguing that even non-miraculous progress could yield 4-12 percentage point improvements in prediction market accuracy.
Scott examines how AI language models' opinions and behaviors evolve as they become more advanced, discussing implications for AI alignment.
Scott explores three approaches to 'writing for AI' - teaching knowledge, influencing beliefs, and enabling simulation - finding the first limited, the second theoretically confused, and the third creepy and ethically troubling.
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.
The review examines 'How Asia Works' by Joe Studwell, which proposes a three-part model for economic development based on the success of East Asian countries.
Scott explains why Ajeya Cotra's influential 'Biological Anchors' report correctly predicted the AI scaling boom but got AGI timelines wrong by twenty years, due to severely underestimating the rate of algorithmic progress.
A detailed review of Islamic geometric patterns in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Moroccan Court, analyzing both the flaws in modern recreations and the underlying mathematical principles of authentic pattern construction.
Scott examines why the AI safety community isn't more actively opposing AI development, exploring the complex dynamics between AI capabilities and safety efforts.
Scott invites readers to ask questions that will be answered by Claude 4.6 Opus to demonstrate current AI capabilities and test whether AI skeptics underestimate what paid-tier AI can do.
Scott Alexander critiques Lyman Stone's arguments against Effective Altruism, defending the movement's impact, methodology, and philosophical foundations.
Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of 41 links and news items, covering topics from science and politics to history and technology, with brief commentaries and insights.
Scott examines the relationship between sleep, synaptic homeostasis, and depression, exploring how sleep deprivation temporarily alleviates depression symptoms.
Scott Alexander examines various interpretations of rationality, concluding it might be best understood as 'the study of study' - a meta-level examination of truth-seeking methods.
A review of 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' analyzes Hitler's rise to power, identifying key factors to recognize potential authoritarian threats.
Scott reviews a biography of Vladimir Putin, tracing his rise to power and methods of maintaining control in Russia.