The reader’s shortlist
Essays ranked by captured source likes. Essays without a saved count are listed last.
Scott Alexander argues that the 33% rate of post-marketing safety events for FDA-approved drugs is not necessarily concerning and explains why post-marketing surveillance is a normal part of drug safety monitoring.
Scott Alexander explains postmodernism to rationalists, using the Dark Age debate as an example, and discusses its applications, risks, and critiques.
Scott Alexander clarifies his intentions behind the APA photo-essay and cautions against overly negative interpretations of psychiatry or any professional field based on selective criticism.
The post examines research suggesting placebos are largely ineffective, explores exceptions, and proposes explanations for observed placebo effects based on brain function and study design.
Scott Alexander reviews an article on heroin addiction treatment, advocating for suboxone use while criticizing ineffective rehab programs and regulatory obstacles.
Scott Alexander reviews the EA Hotel, a project offering free accommodation to effective altruists in Blackpool, England, discussing its potential benefits and challenges.
Scott Alexander reviews Luna, a blockchain-based dating platform, discussing its novel features and expressing cautious optimism about its potential, while questioning the necessity of blockchain for its functions.
Scott Alexander explores how perfect predictions of war outcomes, through oracles or prediction markets, could potentially prevent wars, and extends this concept to conflicts between superintelligent AIs.
Scott Alexander creates a test using Pew Research data to gauge predictions about American values changes from 1987 to 2009, hypothesizing that people will underestimate their own political position's strength.
Scott Alexander lists 60 predictions for 2014 across global events, online communities, and personal life, assigning probabilities to each.
Scott Alexander shares his 100 predictions for 2016, assigning probabilities to each across various global and personal topics.
Scott Alexander presents 105 predictions for 2017 on topics ranging from world events to personal life, each with an assigned probability.
Scott Alexander shares his 100 predictions for 2018 on topics like politics, economics, technology, and personal goals, with assigned probabilities for each.
Scott Alexander shares his 118 predictions for 2019, covering politics, economics, technology, and personal matters, with assigned probability percentages for each prediction.
Scott Alexander shares his 100 predictions for 2020, covering topics from coronavirus to personal goals, each with an assigned probability.
Scott Alexander explores the similarities between Predictive Processing and Perceptual Control Theory, arguing that PCT anticipates many aspects of PP and deserves recognition for its insights.
Scott Alexander preregisters hypotheses for the 2018 SSC Survey, planning to explore relationships between perception, cognition, personality, and demographics.
Scott Alexander outlines 18 preregistered investigations for the 2019 SSC survey, covering topics from psychiatric medication effects to birth order influences.
Scott Alexander admits he was wrong about preschool programs like Head Start, discussing new evidence of their long-term benefits and considering the implications for understanding environmental effects and policy.
Scott Alexander critically examines studies on preschool effects, finding mixed and inconsistent evidence for long-term benefits.
Scott Alexander analyzes online drug ratings, finding patients prefer older antidepressants while doctors prefer newer ones, and explores potential explanations for this paradox.
Scott criticizes interpretations of a study suggesting psychiatric care might cause suicide, arguing this ignores the more likely explanation of selection bias.
Scott Alexander argues for the use of probabilities in decision-making even without well-defined models, using examples to show why this approach is necessary and beneficial in real-world situations.
Scott Alexander discusses the problems with paywalled articles and proposes solutions to improve internet users' experience.
Scott recommends the FB Purity browser add-on to filter unwanted content on Facebook, but notes that Facebook is trying to ban it.