Scott's monthly links roundup covering AI progress, the coming flood of philanthropic funding to effective altruism from AI companies, new research on persuasion and forecasting, and various scientific and cultural topics ranging from dementia prevention to Romanian politicians' embarrassing quotes. Longer summary

This is the second part of Scott Alexander's monthly links roundup for July 2026, covering a wide range of topics including AI developments, effective altruism funding waves, healthcare research, and cultural curiosities. Major themes include Chinese AI models catching up to the US (though still 6-12 months behind), the coming "third wave" of American philanthropy from AI company equity donations potentially flooding effective altruism with $40 billion/year, AI systems now outperforming humans at persuasion in specific contexts, and various scientific findings from dementia prevention to infinite ethics. The post maintains Scott's characteristic style of jumping between serious technical analysis, historical oddities, and humorous observations, with extensive linking to sources and ongoing debates in the rationalist and effective altruist communities. Shorter summary

Scott argues that worrying about escaping a "permanent underclass" after AI is misguided, and that instead people should focus on the real opportunity: making meaningful contributions during this pivotal moment in history that will be remembered by future civilizations forever. Longer summary

Scott argues that the "permanent underclass" meme is misguided fearmongering targeting well-off Silicon Valley people worried about not becoming oligarchs after AI. He contends that even in the unlikely scenario where this happens, they'll still be fine (citing Dario Amodei's charitable pledges), and that worrying about wealth accumulation misses the real opportunity: we're living at a pivotal moment in history that will be studied forever. Drawing parallels to figures like St. Veronica (remembered for giving Jesus a washcloth), Scott suggests that random acts and contributions during crucial historical moments are remembered far longer than wealth. He encourages readers to focus on making meaningful contributions - through discourse, art, charity, or discovery - rather than obsessing over becoming ultra-wealthy, as future galactic civilizations will remember those who participated meaningfully in this "hinge of history" moment. Shorter summary

Scott argues that taking the Giving What We Can Pledge to donate a fixed percentage of income is the single most impactful decision most people can make, eliminating donation stress while maximizing charitable impact. Longer summary

Scott advocates for taking the Giving What We Can Pledge, arguing that committing to donate a fixed percentage of income (typically 10%) to effective charities is one of the most impactful decisions someone can make. He describes how he used to feel stressed and irrational about charitable giving before discovering the pledge, and explains that having a predetermined commitment eliminates the guilt and decision fatigue of responding to individual fundraising appeals. The post emphasizes that for most people, financial donations are their most powerful tool for changing the world, and that making a binding pledge - rather than relying on willpower for each donation - is the key to actually following through on altruistic values. Shorter summary

Scott shares 55 interesting links covering topics from AI poetry to religious movements, including updates on various projects, unusual historical events, and current developments in technology, politics, and society. Longer summary

This is Scott's monthly links post for December 2024, collecting various interesting stories and developments. The links cover a wide range of topics, from Steven Seagal's bizarre life trajectory to developments in AI and technology, including updates on previous ACX topics and grants. Many links relate to ongoing discussions in the rationalist and EA communities, including debates about effective altruism and charitable giving. The post also includes various curiosities from history, culture, and current events, with Scott often providing his own analysis or perspective on the items shared. Shorter summary

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

Scott Alexander defends effective altruism against Freddie deBoer's criticism, arguing for its distinctiveness, practical value, and positive marginal effects. Longer summary

Scott Alexander responds to Freddie deBoer's criticism of effective altruism (EA) as a 'shell game'. He argues that EA can be defined distinctly from universally-held beliefs, serves as a social technology to encourage charitable action, and is composed of valuable organizations. Scott also discusses the challenges of categorizing ideological movements, suggests judging movements by their marginal effects, and defends EA's focus on both widely accepted and more controversial causes. Shorter summary

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

Scott Alexander announces ACX Grants, offering $250,000 to fund promising research and projects, with potential for additional funding through partnerships. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces ACX Grants, a program to fund good research and projects with minimal paperwork. He's allocating $250,000 of his own money and hopes to supplement with more from other sources. The grants aim to support projects that could make the world better but might not attract traditional funding. Applications are open for two weeks, with winners announced 2-4 weeks later. Scott also introduces ACX Grants+ and ACX Grants++, which involve forwarding promising projects to other potential funders or publicizing them on his blog, respectively. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander compares political spending to the almond industry, revealing surprisingly low amounts in politics due to coordination problems. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the surprisingly low amount of money in politics compared to other industries, using the almond industry as a benchmark. He notes that all US spending on candidates, PACs, lobbying, think tanks, and advocacy organizations combined is less than the annual revenue of the almond industry. The post examines various sectors of political spending and media properties, highlighting their relatively low monetary value. Scott discusses three reasons why this is surprising: ordinary people's political engagement, wealthy individuals' interests, and corporate influence post-Citizens United. He considers potential explanations, including Ansolabehere's argument about the ineffectiveness of political spending, but ultimately suggests that coordination problems are the main factor preventing more money from entering politics. The post concludes by drawing a parallel between political spending and charitable giving, arguing that the same coordination problems affect both areas. Shorter summary

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

Scott Alexander compares setting moral standards to economic price-setting, arguing that more achievable standards might lead to better outcomes than unattainably high ones. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the question of how to set moral standards in society, comparing it to a price-setting problem in economics. He argues that setting the bar for being a 'good person' too high can be counterproductive, as it might discourage people from trying at all. The post suggests that a more effective approach might be to set standards that are ambitious but achievable, similar to how companies set goals for employees. Scott shares personal anecdotes about charitable giving and vegetarianism to illustrate how lower, more attainable standards can sometimes lead to better outcomes. He also discusses the idea of aiming to be above average morally, and how this could lead to gradual societal improvement. The post concludes by proposing that individuals might benefit from practicing 'price discrimination' on themselves, setting personal moral standards at the highest level they can sustainably maintain. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander attends the Effective Altruism Global 2017 conference, describing both the practical charity work and bizarre philosophical speculations of the movement, ultimately admiring their genuine commitment to doing good. Longer summary

Scott Alexander describes his experience at the Effective Altruism Global 2017 conference in San Francisco. He details the impressive scale of charitable work being done by various EA organizations, but also highlights the more unusual and philosophical aspects of the movement. These range from concerns about wild animal suffering to speculations about consciousness and fundamental physics. Scott reflects on how the EA movement combines practical, data-driven charity work with deeply weird philosophical explorations. He concludes by expressing admiration for the genuine goodness and dedication of the EA community, seeing them as a bright spot in a troubled world. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents and analyzes the results of the 2017 Slate Star Codex reader survey, revealing demographic and psychological insights about the blog's audience. Longer summary

Scott Alexander presents the results of the 2017 Slate Star Codex (SSC) reader survey, which gathered responses from 5,500 people. The post provides detailed breakdowns of demographics, opinions, and various psychological and behavioral traits of SSC readers. Scott also compares some of these results to a smaller sample of Mechanical Turk users. The data reveals interesting insights about the SSC readership, including their political leanings, educational background, and mental health statistics. Scott encourages readers to further analyze the publicly available dataset. Shorter summary

A diverse collection of links covering current events, scientific studies, and cultural developments, with brief commentary on each story's significance or implications. Longer summary

This is a collection of links covering various topics from current events, science, and culture. It includes news about the seasteading institute's deal with French Polynesia, a meta-analysis on red meat and cardiovascular disease, a discussion of authoritarianism by Tom Pepinsky, and various studies on topics like growth mindset and the Flynn Effect. The links also cover political developments like Obama's attempts to close Guantanamo, Trump's health picks, and new research on school choice experiments. The post maintains a neutral tone while providing brief commentary and context for each link. Shorter summary

The post highlights the effectiveness of bednets in combating malaria in Africa, citing impressive statistics and encouraging donations to continue this progress. Longer summary

The post discusses the significant impact of malaria control efforts, particularly the use of insecticide-treated bednets, in Africa between 2000 and 2015. It cites a Nature study and comments from Giving What We Can, highlighting that bednets have prevented around 450 million cases of malaria and contributed to saving 6.2 million lives. The author expresses enthusiasm about humanity's progress against malaria and shares that they donated a thousand bednets, encouraging others to donate to the Against Malaria Foundation. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander explores the hidden prevalence of misery in society, using his psychiatric experience and statistical analysis to argue that suffering is more widespread than commonly perceived. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reflects on the prevalence of misery and hardship in society, based on his experiences as a psychiatrist. He describes typical patient profiles that showcase severe life difficulties, and contrasts this with the tendency of people to socially filter for those similar to themselves. The post then presents statistics on various forms of suffering and runs a simulation to estimate how common these issues are in the general population. The author concludes that the world is likely much worse than most people realize, even in seemingly prosperous areas, and cautions against dismissing the problems of any particular group. He suggests that this realization might motivate people to contribute to efforts to improve the world, such as through charitable donations. Shorter summary

Scott shares and comments on various links covering topics like startups, science, academia, social issues and charitable giving, with a focus on rationalist and effective altruist causes. Longer summary

This is a links post collecting various interesting articles and news from around the internet. Topics include a startup betting on marriage success, privacy/encryption history, climate change policy, scientific studies on aging and obesity, academic criticism, college renaming controversies, drug use surveys, and charitable giving. The post has Scott's typical style of briefly summarizing each link while adding his own commentary and connections between topics. The post ends with several charitable giving opportunities related to rationalist and effective altruist organizations. Shorter summary

A collection of interesting links covering various topics from scientific studies and economic policies to cultural oddities, with particular focus on deworming program controversies and workplace discrimination research. Longer summary

This is a link roundup post where Scott shares various interesting articles and studies. The topics covered range from scientific discoveries to economic policies, from social experiments to cultural oddities. He discusses several major studies and their implications, including birth order effects, workplace discrimination in France, and the controversy around deworming programs. The post also includes various curiosities like botanical bioregions, moon naming conventions, and Chinese stock market intervention, all presented with Scott's characteristic mix of insight and humor. Shorter summary

Scott shares and comments on various interesting links covering topics like international relations, medical research, technology, and social issues, mixing academic discussion with curious anecdotes. Longer summary

This is a links post where Scott Alexander shares various interesting links he found, with brief commentary on each. The links cover diverse topics from North Korea's Twitter account to medical research about nutrition, and from academic gender studies to technological development. Scott provides context and sometimes critique for the linked articles, maintaining a mix of serious academic discussion and lighter curiosities. Shorter summary

Scott explores why conservative religious movements thrive while liberal ones decline, suggesting that strict rules and commitments strengthen communities, and considers this in the context of atheist religion-substitutes. Longer summary

This post discusses the counterintuitive success of conservative religious movements compared to liberal ones, exploring the idea that demanding commitments and strict rules can actually strengthen religious communities. Scott examines this concept in the context of atheist religion-substitutes, noting their tendency to avoid placing rules on members. He contrasts this with the approach of Giving What We Can, which requires a specific commitment from members. The post concludes by considering the potential of 'nomic' subcultures based on rule-following as a possible direction for secular community-building. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander argues that donating 10% of income to effective charities is a more impactful way to do good than political activism, and recommends joining Giving What We Can. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses the moral obligation to engage in politics and activism, comparing it to other forms of doing good, particularly charitable giving. He argues that while many feel pressured to be politically active, donating money to effective charities is often a more impactful way to help others. The post suggests that instead of feeling guilty for not doing enough, people should aim to give 10% of their income to charity as a reasonable and achievable goal. This standard, promoted by organizations like Giving What We Can, is presented as a balanced approach to making a positive difference without falling into despair or inaction. Scott concludes by recommending readers consider joining Giving What We Can. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander gives a satirical graduation speech questioning the value of formal education and proposing an alternative basic income system, emphasizing kindness and epistemic humility. Longer summary

Scott Alexander delivers a satirical and thought-provoking graduation speech that questions the value of formal education. He compares the conventional path of education and career to an alternative where people receive a basic income instead. The speech critiques the current education system, job market, and societal structures while emphasizing the importance of kindness and epistemic humility. Scott uses humor and irony to challenge graduates' assumptions about their future and the world they're entering. Shorter summary