The reader’s shortlist
Essays ranked by captured source likes. Essays without a saved count are listed last.
A book review examining the evidence for Joan of Arc's miraculous abilities and accomplishments, analyzing historical sources and debating whether she was divinely inspired, mentally ill, or part of a conspiracy.
A review of Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs covering his transformation of Singapore from third-world city-state to wealthy nation through pragmatic policies, framed as a 'rationalist power fantasy' of someone who successfully implemented sensible governance.
Scott presents and analyzes seven different analogies to understand whether sophisticated artistic taste is truly superior to popular taste, ultimately concluding it's most like a system of arbitrary rules with post-hoc justifications.
A review of 'How the War Was Won' by Phillips Payson O'Brien, which argues that Allied air and sea power, not land battles, were decisive in World War II.
Scott Alexander satirizes Bay Area culture through a fictional house party featuring absurd startup ideas and social trends.
Scott Alexander criticizes Tyler Cowen and others for misrepresenting USAID's funding model, explaining how regranting through other charities is both necessary and effective despite seeming inefficient to outsiders.
Scott demonstrates that US crime rates are at historic lows using multiple data sources, then debunks the theories that this is due to reporting bias or improved medical care, before briefly discussing possible explanations for the decline.
Scott Alexander argues that even seemingly extreme media misinformation usually involves misleading presentation of true facts rather than outright fabrication, examining several reader-provided counterexamples.
Scott uses Nostalgebraist's analysis of AI fiction's 'eyeball kicks' to develop a theory where bad taste means overusing cheap tricks that work on unsophisticated audiences, while good taste involves complex patterns only experts can appreciate - then questions whether sophisticated taste actually produces more pleasure.
Scott examines a prediction about eternal wealth inequality after the Singularity, analyzing potential counterarguments, prevention strategies, and ways to prepare for such a future.
Scott Alexander explores the concept of 'trapped priors' as a fundamental problem in rationality, explaining how it leads to persistent biases and suggesting potential solutions.
Scott Alexander examines the Hearing Voices Movement, discussing its benefits and limitations in treating psychosis while emphasizing the need for a balanced approach to mental health care.
Scott examines San Francisco's apparent improvement in homelessness, finding the main effect was decreased tent encampments due to court rulings allowing easier clearing, not actual reduction in homeless population, revealing a basic tradeoff between visibility and homeless welfare.
Scott analyzes misophonia through new research and personal experience, suggesting it might be maintained by complex emotional and social networks rather than pure sound sensitivity.
Scott Alexander distinguishes between moderation and censorship in social media, proposing opt-in settings for banned content as a solution to balance user preferences and free speech.
Scott Alexander analyzes the shortcomings of OpenAI's ChatGPT, highlighting the limitations of current AI alignment techniques and their implications for future AI development.
Scott Alexander reviews a $100,000 debate on COVID-19 origins, where the zoonotic hypothesis unexpectedly won against the lab leak theory.
Scott Alexander proposes a theory of depression as a recalibrated happiness set point, drawing parallels with fever and anorexia, to explain why depressed people seek out sad stimuli.
Scott Alexander examines how AI achievements, once considered markers of true intelligence or danger, are often dismissed as unimpressive, potentially leading to concerning AI behaviors being normalized.
The review explores Jane Jacobs' economic theories from two of her books, focusing on the importance of cities in economic development and challenging conventional wisdom on separatism and large political entities.
Scott Alexander presents a satirical account of a Bay Area house party, showcasing absurd startup ideas and intellectual discussions that parody Silicon Valley culture.
Scott Alexander defends the practice of looking to idealized traditions for inspiration, arguing it's a common and useful human approach to creativity and innovation.
Scott discusses three recent papers showing surprising patterns in how AI misbehavior does and doesn't generalize across different contexts, from emergent misalignment spreading across domains to reward-hacking staying confined to graded tasks.
Scott argues the real distinction in psychology isn't between subfields but between settled science (like dopamine, brain localization, heritability) and breaking-news research, defending psychology's solid core against critics who conflate bad recent studies with the entire field.