LW
What's In A Name?
Scott examines the name letter effect, where people subconsciously prefer things that sound like their names, affecting major decisions like where to live, career choices, and who to marry.
6 min read 845 words
The reader’s shortlist
Worth a second thought.
Essays ranked by captured source likes. Essays without a saved count are listed last.
Most liked essays
2,008 essaysLW
You May Already Be A Sinner
Scott uses Calvinist predestination and Tversky's ice-water heart study to show how people confuse correlation with causation and deceive themselves about their own motives.
8 min read 1,094 words
ACX
Ballots Everywhere: Call For Organizers, Times, & Dates
Scott Alexander proposes a scaled-up voting guide project for major US cities, outlining a process for local ACX meetup groups to create and submit ballot recommendations.
7 min read 1,005 words
ACX
Mantic Monday 5/13/24
Scott Alexander reviews recent developments in prediction markets and forecasting, including regulatory changes, platform pivots, and debates about the field's future.
33 min read 5,080 words
ACX
Progesterone Megadoses Might Be A Cheap Zulresso Substitute
Scott Alexander proposes using high-dose oral progesterone as a potential low-cost alternative to Zulresso for treating postpartum depression, based on pharmacological research.
5 min read 701 words
ACX
Links For May
Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of 37 links and interesting facts, covering topics from AI research and educational methods to historical anecdotes and current events.
17 min read 2,547 words
ACX
Your Book Review: Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are?
A review of Frans de Waal's book on animal cognition, discussing its insights into animal intelligence, scientific methodology, and the evolutionary basis of cognition.
36 min read 5,548 words
ACX
Your Book Review: Why Buddhism Is True
The review critically examines and then steelmans Robert Wright's claims about meditation and enlightenment in 'Why Buddhism Is True', concluding with personal reflections on meditation's effects.
31 min read 4,704 words
LW
How would you take over Rome?
Scott presents a thought experiment about using perfect knowledge and intellect to take over ancient Rome as an upper bound for understanding AI takeover scenarios.
3 min read 419 words
LW
Tendencies in reflective equilibrium
Scott explores how people's moral intuitions often conflict and can be reconciled through reflective equilibrium, using the example of inconsistent punishment judgments for theft by people of different socioeconomic classes.
9 min read 1,298 words
ACX
Mantic Monday 6/21/21
Scott discusses various prediction markets and forecasting topics, including Metaculus predictions, Polymarket vs PredictIt, a study on forecasting accuracy, and the need for more precise inflation predictions from experts.
10 min read 1,447 words
ACX
Model City Monday 11/8/21
Scott Alexander reviews several model city projects, analyzing their feasibility and unique challenges with a mix of skepticism and interest.
26 min read 3,942 words
ACX
Your Book Review: The Collapse Of Complex Societies
This review examines Joseph Tainter's theory of societal collapse due to diminishing returns on complexity, critiquing aspects of the model and attempting to apply it to modern contexts.
40 min read 6,174 words
ACX
Links For August
Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of links and commentary on topics ranging from housing policy and employment discrimination to conspiracy theories and vaccine hesitancy, with a mix of analysis, skepticism, and humor.
21 min read 3,111 words
ACX
Mantic Monday 6/13/22
Scott Alexander reviews recent predictions and forecasts on topics including monkeypox, the Ukraine war, AI development, and US politics.
13 min read 1,909 words
ACX
Model City Monday 8/2/21
Scott discusses recent developments in charter cities, including new projects in Honduras, a hypothetical project called Mariposa, and the growth of megachurches in Nigeria into city-like entities.
20 min read 3,085 words
LW
Help, help, I'm being oppressed!
Scott analyzes why multiple groups in America simultaneously claim persecution, identifying psychological motivations behind these claims and warning against the rhetorical trick of presenting oneself as both persecuted underdog and inevitable winner.
11 min read 1,640 words
LW
Wikifying the blog list
Scott announces a new wiki page cataloguing blogs by Less Wrong community members, asking readers to add their own blogs and help maintain the list.
2 min read 272 words
ACX
ACX Classifieds 4/24
Scott introduces an irregular classifieds thread for readers to advertise in various categories, providing guidelines and related resources.
1 min read 121 words
ACX
Highlights From The Comments On Last Week's Model Cities Post
The post discusses reader comments on various model city projects, focusing on the Solano County proposal and Prospera, while also addressing other related topics.
35 min read 5,295 words
ACX
Mantic Monday: Predictions For 2021
Scott Alexander shares his annual predictions for 2021, covering various topics from politics to personal life, with assigned probabilities for each prediction.
8 min read 1,148 words
ACX
Suggest Questions For Metaculus/ACX Forecasting Contest
Scott asks readers to suggest questions for the 2026 ACX/Metaculus forecasting contest, with prizes for the top ten contributors and AI bots competing this year.
2 min read 259 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
ACX
Choose Book Review Finalists 2024
Scott Alexander seeks help in selecting finalists for the 2024 Book Review Contest by asking readers to rate entries from a pool of 150 reviews.
6 min read 889 words
ACX
Book Review Contest Rules 2022
Scott Alexander announces the 2022 Book Review Contest, detailing rules, submission guidelines, and prizes for participants.
4 min read 484 words