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Medicine, As Not Seen On TV
Scott Alexander reflects on his first year of medical residency, contrasting reality with TV dramas and describing the complexities of hospital care.
15 min read 2,277 words
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2,008 essaysSSC
Meditations On Moloch
Scott Alexander analyzes Moloch as a metaphor for destructive societal coordination problems, using various examples to show how competing incentives can lead to negative outcomes.
97 min read 14,959 words
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Meditative States As Feedback Loops
Scott Alexander explores meditative states as feedback loops, discussing jhanas from Buddhist practice and why most people don't experience runaway emotional feedback in everyday life.
5 min read 701 words
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Melatonin: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Scott Alexander examines melatonin's effects, proper dosage, and uses for sleep disorders and circadian rhythm issues, emphasizing its dual role as a hypnotic and chronobiotic.
34 min read 5,247 words
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Mental Health On A Budget
Scott Alexander offers various strategies for obtaining affordable mental health care and medication in the US, including discount programs, therapy alternatives, and supplement options.
15 min read 2,286 words
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Mental Mountains
The post explores how emotional learning creates hard-to-update mental models, drawing parallels between psychotherapy, psychedelics, and rationality techniques in overcoming these 'mental mountains'.
31 min read 4,789 words
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MetaMed launch day
Scott Alexander announces the launch of MetaMed, a company offering personalized medical research, and describes his positive experiences with their rational approach to medical questions.
5 min read 678 words
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Metaphors Be With You
Scott Alexander presents an extensive collection of humorous and creative metaphors, similes, and other figurative language from various sources.
14 min read 2,166 words
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Might People On The Internet Sometimes Lie?
Scott Alexander examines why compelling but unlikely stories on large internet platforms are probably lies, despite our reluctance to believe so.
11 min read 1,637 words
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Military Strikes Are An Extremely Cheap Way To Help Foreigners
Scott Alexander argues that military interventions can potentially be a cost-effective way to help foreigners, contrary to a Slate article's claim.
11 min read 1,583 words
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Misperceptions On Moloch
Scott Alexander addresses misconceptions about Moloch and human values, clarifying points from his previous post on the subject.
8 min read 1,160 words
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Moments Of Awakening
Scott Alexander discusses how the clarity experienced when awakening from meditation-induced delusions mirrors his appreciation for simplifying philosophical concepts.
6 min read 822 words
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Money, Money, Everywhere, But Not A Cent To Spend
Scott Alexander critiques the inefficiency of psychiatric care for poverty-related issues, suggesting a Basic Income Guarantee as a potentially more effective solution.
8 min read 1,104 words
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Money On The Ground
Scott Alexander defends an economic principle often mocked in jokes, explaining its validity when applied to long-standing, seemingly obvious financial opportunities.
2 min read 220 words
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More Fictional Drugs Banned By The FDA
Scott Alexander presents a satirical list of fictional drugs banned by the FDA, each with an absurd reason for its prohibition.
4 min read 563 words
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More Hardball Debate Questions
The post presents challenging hypothetical debate questions for presidential candidates, addressing controversial aspects of their platforms or backgrounds.
14 min read 2,137 words
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More Intuition-Building On Non-Empirical Science: Three Stories
Scott Alexander uses three fictional stories to illustrate principles of non-empirical scientific reasoning, ultimately applying them to support the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.
5 min read 713 words
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More Links For August
Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of links on topics ranging from politics and economics to scientific studies, offering brief commentaries and critiques.
16 min read 2,385 words
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More Links For December
Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting links and brief commentary on topics ranging from historical anecdotes to recent technological and scientific developments.
11 min read 1,559 words
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More Links For February 2014
Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of interesting links on topics ranging from meditation to global poverty, offering brief summaries and personal commentary.
9 min read 1,261 words
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More Links For January
Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of recent news items, studies, and interesting facts, covering topics from public health to economics to quirky trivia.
12 min read 1,715 words
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More Links For July 2014
Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting news items and links from July 2014, covering topics from philosophy and politics to science and pop culture.
10 min read 1,542 words
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More Links For June 2014
Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of links and brief commentary on topics ranging from climate change to social science research, with both serious analysis and humorous observations.
13 min read 1,898 words
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More Links for March 2014
Scott shares and comments on a diverse collection of news items and interesting links from March 2014, covering topics from medical advances to political issues and quirky stories.
9 min read 1,267 words
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More Links For May 2014
Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting links and brief commentaries on topics ranging from pollution solutions to genetic discoveries and cultural differences.
6 min read 837 words