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41 posts found
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Jan 29, 2026
acx
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ACX Classifieds 1/26

1 min • 117 words • 335 comments • 57 likes
Scott opens a classifieds thread for readers to advertise employment, dating, blogs, products, meetups and other services in organized categories with guidelines for respectful posting. Longer summary
This is a classifieds thread post where Scott invites readers to advertise various things in the comments section. The post establishes several categories for advertisements including Employment, Dating, Read My Blog, Consume My Product/Service, Meetup, and Other. Scott provides guidelines for posting, emphasizing that commenters should respond to appropriate top-level categories and be respectful, especially toward people posting dating ads. The post also includes links to EA job boards, internships, and meetup resources. Shorter summary
Oct 30, 2025
acx
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Links For October 2025

42 min • 6,423 words • 803 comments • 211 likes • podcast (38 min)
Scott Alexander presents 51 links covering AI progress and safety, political developments, scientific research, cultural oddities, and ongoing philosophical debates about miracles and education reform. Longer summary
Scott Alexander shares 51 links covering diverse topics including AI developments (agents, safety, consciousness research), political news (Ukraine policy, UK politics, Trump administration), science updates (climate predictions, genetics, bacteriophages), cultural curiosities (Shakespeare superfan plastic surgery, Soviet naming conventions, flag cones), health research (Alzheimer's prevention, shingles vaccine reducing dementia, kidney donation), and philosophical debates (Hume's argument against miracles, the Fatima miracle discussion). The post maintains Scott's characteristic blend of serious analysis and quirky observations, touching on everything from Bach's descendants in Oklahoma to the mystery of why AI still struggles with laundry folding despite mastering protein folding. Shorter summary
Oct 17, 2025
acx
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Non-Book Review Contest 2025 Winners

12 min • 1,827 words • 274 comments • 128 likes • podcast (10 min)
Scott announces the winners and finalists of the 2025 Non-Book Review Contest, with prizes ranging from free subscriptions to $2500, and provides bios for all the winning authors. Longer summary
Scott announces the winners of the 2025 Non-Book Review Contest, with first place going to a review of Joan of Arc, second place to Alpha School, and third place to the Russo-Ukrainian War. The post lists all finalists and honorable mentions with brief bios of the authors, explains the prizes (ranging from free ACX subscriptions to cash awards of $2500 for first place), and notes that the contest will alternate yearly between book reviews and non-book reviews going forward. Shorter summary
Sep 04, 2025
acx
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Links For September 2025

54 min • 8,283 words • 918 comments • 233 likes • podcast (45 min)
Scott Alexander presents his monthly collection of interesting links and developments across technology, science, culture, and policy, with personal commentary on each item. Longer summary
Scott Alexander shares a collection of 61 interesting links, spanning topics from AI development and scientific studies to cultural observations and policy discussions. The post covers diverse subjects including GPT-5's reception, genetic research, religious demographics, urban development, mental health studies, and various scientific discoveries. Scott provides commentary and analysis on many of these items, often connecting them to broader themes or offering his perspective on controversial issues. Shorter summary
Apr 22, 2025
acx
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Links For April 2025

26 min • 3,899 words • 1,017 comments • 220 likes • podcast (26 min)
A collection of 41 interesting links and news items from April 2025, covering AI, politics, culture, and science, with Scott's commentary on each. Longer summary
This is a links roundup post featuring various interesting news, studies, and curiosities from April 2025. The post covers a wide range of topics including AI developments (particularly around OpenAI and truth-seeking AI), political updates (about Trump, immigration policy, and minimum wage effects), cultural items (like etymology of cowboy terms and medieval perception), and scientific findings. Scott maintains a light, sometimes humorous tone while sharing these diverse pieces of information, occasionally adding his own analysis or perspective on controversial topics. Shorter summary
Apr 17, 2025
acx
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ACX Classifieds 4/25

1 min • 117 words • 426 comments • 67 likes
Scott announces an irregular classifieds thread where readers can post advertisements under specific categories, with guidelines for respectful engagement. Longer summary
This is a thread post announcing the irregular ACX classifieds where readers can post advertisements in the comments under specific categories: Employment, Dating, Read My Blog, Consume My Product/Service, Meetup, or Other. Scott includes some guidelines about being respectful, especially regarding dating ads, and provides useful links to EA job boards and meetup finders. Shorter summary
Sep 26, 2024
acx
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ACX Classifieds 9/2024

1 min • 116 words • 361 comments • 60 likes
Scott Alexander announces an irregular classifieds thread for ACX readers to post advertisements in various categories, with guidelines and related resources. Longer summary
This post announces the irregular classifieds thread on Astral Codex Ten, providing a space for readers to advertise various things in the comments. The post outlines categories for advertisements including Employment, Dating, Read My Blog, Consume My Product/Service, Meetup, and Other. It emphasizes the need to post under the appropriate category and asks for kindness, especially towards dating ads. The post also includes links to potentially related resources such as job boards, internship listings, dating documents, and meetup finders. Shorter summary
May 30, 2024
acx
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Contra Stone On EA

35 min • 5,420 words • 581 comments • 181 likes • podcast (32 min)
Scott Alexander critiques Lyman Stone's arguments against Effective Altruism, defending the movement's impact, methodology, and philosophical foundations. Longer summary
Scott Alexander responds to Lyman Stone's critique of Effective Altruism (EA), addressing several key arguments. He points out flaws in Stone's methodology for evaluating EA's impact on charitable giving, explains why EA focuses on diverse causes, defends the value of research and white-collar work in philanthropy, argues against the suggestion of extreme measures like terrorism, and discusses the philosophical foundations of caring about animal welfare. Scott also refutes the claim that EA ideas are unoriginal, highlighting the movement's unique aspects and its role as a social technology for promoting altruistic behavior. Shorter summary
Apr 30, 2024
acx
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Response to Hanson On Health Care

41 min • 6,243 words • 360 comments • 124 likes • podcast (34 min)
Scott Alexander responds to Robin Hanson's reply on medical effectiveness, clarifying interpretations and reiterating arguments about the limitations of insurance experiments in evaluating medical care. Longer summary
Scott Alexander responds to Robin Hanson's reply to his original post on medical effectiveness. Scott clarifies his interpretation of Hanson's views, discusses potential misunderstandings, and reiterates his arguments about the limitations of insurance experiments in evaluating medical effectiveness. He also addresses specific points Hanson made about cancer treatment, health insurance studies, and p-hacking in medical research. Scott concludes by restating his position that while some medicine is ineffective, it's crucial to distinguish between effective and ineffective treatments rather than dismissing medicine broadly. Shorter summary
Apr 11, 2024
acx
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ACX Classifieds 4/24

1 min • 121 words • 479 comments • 49 likes
Scott introduces an irregular classifieds thread for readers to advertise in various categories, providing guidelines and related resources. Longer summary
This post introduces an irregular classifieds thread where readers can advertise various things in the comments. Scott provides guidelines for organizing responses into categories like Employment, Dating, Read My Blog, Consume My Product/Service, Meetup, or Other. He emphasizes being respectful, especially regarding dating ads, and provides links to related resources such as job boards and dating directories. Shorter summary
Nov 28, 2023
acx
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In Continued Defense Of Effective Altruism

28 min • 4,266 words • 846 comments • 428 likes • podcast (19 min)
Scott Alexander defends effective altruism by highlighting its major accomplishments and arguing that its occasional missteps are outweighed by its positive impact on the world. Longer summary
Scott Alexander defends effective altruism (EA) against recent criticisms, highlighting its accomplishments in global health, animal welfare, AI safety, and other areas. He argues that EA has saved around 200,000 lives, equivalent to ending gun violence, curing AIDS, and preventing a 9/11-scale attack in the US. Scott contends that EA's achievements are often overlooked because they focus on less publicized causes, and that the movement's occasional missteps are minor compared to its positive impact. He emphasizes that EA is a coalition of people who care about logically analyzing important causes, whether broadly popular or not, and encourages readers to investigate and support the most beneficial causes. Shorter summary
Sep 21, 2023
acx
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ACX Classifieds 9/23

1 min • 145 words • 412 comments • 55 likes
Scott announces a classifieds thread on his blog, explaining posting rules and providing related resources. Longer summary
This is an announcement for a trimonthly classifieds thread on Astral Codex Ten. Scott explains the rules for posting ads in different categories like employment, dating, blogs, products/services, meetups, and others. He provides links to related resources and reminds users to be respectful, especially regarding dating ads. The post also includes a cancellation notice for a San Jose / South Bay meetup. Shorter summary
Oct 25, 2022
acx
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From The Mailbag

17 min • 2,532 words • 286 comments • 118 likes • podcast (16 min)
Scott Alexander answers reader questions on various topics, including his projects, views, and personal preferences in a mailbag format. Longer summary
Scott Alexander responds to several reader questions in a mailbag-style post. He addresses topics such as publishing his book Unsong, the status of his Lorien Psychiatry business, future ACX Grants rounds, his progress on reading Nixonland, his views on AI risk, how to get involved in the rationalist/EA community, Straussian interpretations of his posts, and his refusal to go on podcasts. The responses vary in length and detail, with some providing specific information and others explaining his reasoning or personal preferences. Shorter summary
Sep 06, 2022
acx
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Links For September 2022

19 min • 2,870 words • 519 comments • 79 likes • podcast (23 min)
Scott Alexander shares 40 diverse and intriguing links and news items from September 2022, covering topics from AI advancements to political analysis and cultural observations. Longer summary
Scott Alexander presents a collection of 40 interesting links and news items from September 2022. The topics range from AI developments and their implications, to political analysis, scientific discoveries, and cultural observations. He covers subjects like image generation AI, conspiracy theories, the political situation in South Africa, nuclear power in California, and language models' capabilities. The post also includes personal anecdotes, book reviews, and interesting statistical findings. Shorter summary
Aug 23, 2022
acx
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Book Review: What We Owe The Future

50 min • 7,661 words • 585 comments • 194 likes • podcast (54 min)
Scott Alexander reviews Will MacAskill's 'What We Owe The Future', a book arguing for longtermism and considering our moral obligations to future generations. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reviews Will MacAskill's book 'What We Owe The Future', which argues for longtermism - the idea that we should prioritize helping future generations. The review covers the book's key arguments about moral obligations to future people, ways to affect the long-term future, and population ethics dilemmas. Scott expresses some skepticism about aspects of longtermism and population ethics, but acknowledges the book's thought-provoking ideas and practical suggestions for having positive long-term impact. Shorter summary
Aug 08, 2022
acx
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Why Not Slow AI Progress?

20 min • 3,004 words • 612 comments • 181 likes • podcast (22 min)
Scott examines why the AI safety community isn't more actively opposing AI development, exploring the complex dynamics between AI capabilities and safety efforts. Longer summary
Scott Alexander discusses the complex relationship between AI capabilities research and AI safety efforts, exploring why the AI safety community is not more actively opposing AI development. He explains how major AI companies were founded by safety-conscious individuals, the risks of a 'race dynamic' in AI development, and the challenges of regulating AI globally. The post concludes that the current cooperation between AI capabilities companies and the alignment community may be the best strategy, despite its imperfections. Shorter summary
Jun 24, 2022
acx
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Your Book Review: Public Choice Theory And The Illusion Of Grand Strategy

52 min • 8,023 words • 251 comments • 80 likes • podcast (56 min)
A review of Richard Hanania's book arguing that public choice theory, not grand strategy, explains US foreign policy decisions and their often devastating consequences. Longer summary
This book review discusses Richard Hanania's 'Public Choice Theory And The Illusion Of Grand Strategy', which argues that public choice theory better explains US foreign policy than the unitary actor model. The review covers the book's key arguments, including how special interest groups shape foreign policy, the incoherence of American interventions, and the devastating effects of sanctions. It also explores the book's relevance to current events like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and potential implications for nuclear security and effective altruism. Shorter summary
May 25, 2021
acx
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Peer Review Request: Depression

72 min • 11,078 words • 456 comments • 121 likes • podcast (73 min)
Scott Alexander presents a detailed guide on depression, covering its causes, symptoms, and various treatment options, including lifestyle changes, therapies, medications, and other interventions. Longer summary
Scott Alexander provides a comprehensive guide on depression, covering its causes, symptoms, and various treatment options. He discusses lifestyle changes, therapies, medications, supplements, and other interventions like TMS and ECT. The post offers practical advice on how to approach treatment, including specific regimens for different situations, and guidelines on how long to continue treatment once it starts working. Shorter summary
Jan 29, 2021
acx
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Contra Weyl On Technocracy

36 min • 5,537 words • 340 comments • 219 likes • podcast (37 min)
Scott Alexander critiques Glen Weyl's anti-technocracy essay, arguing for a more nuanced view of formal mechanisms in decision-making and defending rationalist approaches. Longer summary
Scott Alexander critiques Glen Weyl's essay 'Why I Am Not A Technocrat', arguing that Weyl's definition of technocracy is incoherent and his examples don't fit his own definition. Scott breaks down the concept of technocracy into several axes, including top-down vs. bottom-up, mechanism vs. judgment, and expert vs. popular opinion. He argues that formal mechanisms can be valuable in preventing bias and corruption, using examples like district creation and college admissions. Scott also defends the rationalist and effective altruism communities against Weyl's criticisms, highlighting their successes in areas like pandemic preparedness. He concludes that while critiques of technocracy are important, it's crucial to avoid oversimplifying the issue and to recognize that sometimes technocratic approaches can be beneficial. Shorter summary
Apr 10, 2020
ssc
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Coronalinks 4/10: Second Derivative

25 min • 3,781 words • 829 comments • podcast (23 min)
Scott Alexander provides updates on coronavirus trends, discusses various pandemic-related topics, and analyzes different countries' responses and policy proposals. Longer summary
This blog post provides updates on various aspects of the coronavirus pandemic. It discusses the slowing growth rate of cases in many countries, the challenges of mail-in voting in the US, charity efforts, how different countries are responding to the crisis, economic analyses of lockdowns, some positive developments in the US response, and various other coronavirus-related topics. The post maintains a speculative and analytical tone, examining different perspectives on issues like immunity certificates, expert predictions, and controversies around ventilator donations. Shorter summary
Apr 01, 2020
ssc
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Book Review: The Precipice

36 min • 5,435 words • 511 comments • podcast (35 min)
Scott Alexander reviews Toby Ord's 'The Precipice', a book about existential risks to humanity, noting Ord's careful analysis and surprisingly low risk estimates while emphasizing the importance of addressing these risks. Longer summary
This book review discusses Toby Ord's 'The Precipice', which examines existential risks to humanity. The review outlines Ord's arguments for taking these risks seriously, his analysis of specific risks like nuclear war and AI, and his recommendations for addressing them. The reviewer notes Ord's careful statistical reasoning and surprisingly low risk estimates for many scenarios, while still emphasizing the overall importance of mitigating existential risks. The review concludes by reflecting on Ord's perspective and the appropriate response to even seemingly small risks of human extinction. Shorter summary
Jul 04, 2019
ssc
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Some Clarifications On Rationalist Blogging

5 min • 665 words • 204 comments • podcast (6 min)
Scott Alexander clarifies that his blog Slate Star Codex is not strictly representative of the rationalist community, and addresses common misconceptions about the blog's relationship to rationalism and effective altruism. Longer summary
Scott Alexander clarifies several points about his blog Slate Star Codex (SSC) and its relationship to the rationalist community. He emphasizes that SSC is not strictly a 'rationalist blog', comparing it to a 'rationalist picnic' rather than a 'rationalist monastery'. Scott expresses skepticism about claims of rationality's practical utility in everyday life, and points readers to other resources for more intensive rationalist and effective altruist content. He stresses that while he's not distancing himself from the rationalist community, SSC should not be seen as representative of or equivalent to the broader rationalist movement. The post aims to address common misconceptions and set appropriate expectations for readers. Shorter summary
Apr 24, 2019
ssc
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Links 4/2019

18 min • 2,733 words • 591 comments
A diverse collection of links covering technology, science, economics, politics, and culture, including critiques of studies, interesting scientific findings, and current events. Longer summary
This post is a collection of links to various interesting articles, studies, and news items. It covers a wide range of topics including technology, science, economics, politics, and culture. Some highlights include: a list of places branding themselves as the next Silicon Valley, a study on declining fertility in dogs, critiques of bad scientific studies, an article on antidepressant tapering, data on value drift in effective altruism, and discussions on the Mueller Report's impact on media credibility. The post also includes links to various interesting facts, studies, and developments in fields such as nutrition, drug use, e-cigarettes, and urban development. Shorter summary
Mar 06, 2019
ssc
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Links 3/19: Linkguini

16 min • 2,429 words • 558 comments
Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of links on topics including architecture, history, science, politics, and economics, offering brief commentaries and insights on each. Longer summary
This post is a collection of various links and brief commentaries on diverse topics. Scott Alexander covers subjects ranging from architecture and history to science, politics, and economics. He discusses the Obama Presidential Library, unusual historical facts, effective altruism, AI policy careers, Bitcoin mining, and scientific studies on parenting and voter ID laws. The post also touches on topics like gender discrimination in tech, nuclear energy startups, and dietary trends. Throughout, Scott provides his characteristic mix of curiosity, skepticism, and humor in discussing these wide-ranging subjects. Shorter summary
Dec 25, 2018
ssc
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Links 12/18: Boughs Of Hollink

20 min • 2,960 words • 644 comments
Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of interesting news items, scientific findings, and cultural observations, covering topics from archaeology to economics to social issues. Longer summary
This post is a collection of interesting links and news items from various fields. It covers topics such as archaeology, economics, politics, science, technology, and social issues. The author, Scott Alexander, provides brief summaries and commentary on each item, often with a touch of humor or irony. The post includes stories about unexpected discoveries, unusual historical facts, scientific developments, and cultural phenomena. It also touches on some ongoing debates in fields like healthcare economics and free speech. Shorter summary
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