SSC
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2,008 essaysSSC
Ascended Economy?
Scott Alexander speculates on a future 'ascended economy' where AI-run corporations dominate, discussing potential implications and risks of such a system.
19 min read 2,884 words
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Asches to Asches
A person repeatedly wakes up in a Matrix-like pod, being told different versions of reality about the concept of 'family' in a series of nested scenarios, ultimately revealed to be an alien experiment.
18 min read 2,790 words
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Assortative Mating And Autism
Scott Alexander analyzes survey data to investigate whether assortative mating among highly analytical people increases autism risk in their children, finding no significant evidence for this hypothesis.
8 min read 1,147 words
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Asymmetric Weapons Gone Bad
Scott Alexander examines how increased rational debate doesn't always lead to truth, using personal and societal examples, and suggests ways to carefully approach traditions and changes.
25 min read 3,807 words
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Attempted Replication: Does Beef Jerky Cause Manic Episodes?
Scott Alexander attempts to replicate a study linking beef jerky consumption to manic episodes in bipolar disorder, finding no significant relationship in his analysis of SSC survey data.
7 min read 1,065 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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Autogenderphilia Is Common And Not Especially Related To Transgender
Scott Alexander presents survey data showing autogenderphilia is common in both cisgender and transgender populations, challenging existing theories about its relationship to gender identity.
13 min read 1,965 words
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Bad Dreams
Scott discusses various sleep disorders and dream-related conditions, emphasizing their often unsettling and bizarre nature, from Epic Dreaming Disorder to Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome.
14 min read 2,023 words
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Bail Out
Scott Alexander examines bail reform as a potential solution to high incarceration rates in the US, discussing its impacts, alternatives, and the effectiveness of bail-paying charities.
19 min read 2,798 words
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Based on your findings, which theory about alien thickness seems most valid or most accurate?
Scott Alexander investigates and humorously addresses a recurring search query about 'alien thickness', tracing it to a 7th-grade science assignment and offering guidance on solving the problem.
9 min read 1,265 words
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Basic Income, Not Basic Jobs: Against Hijacking Utopia
Scott Alexander argues strongly for basic income over basic jobs guarantees, citing numerous advantages of basic income and potential pitfalls of basic jobs programs.
89 min read 13,740 words
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Be Nice, At Least Until You Can Coordinate Meanness
Scott Alexander proposes the principle 'be nice, at least until you can coordinate meanness' and applies it to ethical dilemmas and blog moderation.
15 min read 2,228 words
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Before You Get Too Excited About That GitHub Study…
Scott Alexander critiques a study claiming gender bias in GitHub, pointing out methodological flaws and media misrepresentation of its non-peer-reviewed findings.
16 min read 2,394 words
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Before You Get Too Excited About That Trigger Warning Study…
Scott Alexander critiques a misreported study on trigger warnings, highlighting its flaws and limited relevance to the broader debate on their use in colleges.
11 min read 1,692 words
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Beware Isolated Demands For Rigor
Scott Alexander explores the concept of 'isolated demands for rigor' across philosophy, politics, and science, criticizing the selective application of rigorous standards.
18 min read 2,716 words
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Beware Mass-Produced Medical Recommendations
Scott Alexander critiques mass-produced medical recommendations, showing how they can oversimplify or misrepresent scientific evidence using vitamin D and niacin as examples.
19 min read 2,816 words
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Beware Regional Scatterplots
Scott Alexander cautions against drawing strong conclusions from regional scatterplots, demonstrating how apparent correlations can be artifacts of regional clustering rather than true relationships.
8 min read 1,168 words
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Beware Summary Statistics
Scott Alexander explores how summary statistics can be misleading when describing relationships between variables, using examples of IQ's correlation with crime and income.
5 min read 661 words
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Beware Systemic Change
Scott Alexander argues that effective altruism should be wary of pursuing systemic change, as it risks wasting resources and alienating supporters.
26 min read 4,024 words
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Beware The Man Of One Study
Scott Alexander cautions against basing opinions on limited research, using examples from medicine and economics to show how cherry-picking studies can lead to opposing conclusions.
19 min read 2,880 words
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Bicameral Reasoning
Scott Alexander explores 'bicameral reasoning', comparing how we often weigh issues equally (like the US Senate) instead of proportionally to their importance (like the House), leading to potentially skewed decision-making.
9 min read 1,249 words
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Black People Less Likely
Scott Alexander argues that polyamory's low black representation is part of a broader pattern across many subcultures, proposing general explanations and criticizing how this issue is often weaponized.
16 min read 2,462 words
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Blame Theory
Scott Alexander proposes that academics blaming their own demographic for societal problems stems from a desire to justify helping others within their moral framework.
7 min read 1,017 words