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. Longer summary

Scott Alexander responds to criticisms of his previous post about media rarely lying by examining several examples readers provided. He argues that even in extreme cases like Alex Jones' Sandy Hook conspiracy theories or claims about election fraud, media sources are typically highlighting true but misleading facts rather than outright fabricating information. Scott contends this matters because it means efforts to censor 'misinformation' will always require subjective judgment calls rather than being a straightforward process of removing falsehoods. He suggests people want to believe bad actors are doing something fundamentally different than good faith reasoning, but in reality most are just reasoning poorly under uncertainty. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander argues that media rarely lies outright but often misleads through lack of context, making censorship of 'misinformation' problematic. Longer summary

Scott Alexander argues that media rarely lies explicitly, but instead misinforms through misinterpretation, lack of context, or selective reporting. He provides examples from both alternative (Infowars) and mainstream (New York Times) media to illustrate how technically true information can be presented in misleading ways. The post critiques the idea that censorship can easily distinguish between 'misinformation' and 'good information', arguing that determining necessary context is subjective and value-laden. Scott concludes that there isn't a clear line between misinformation and proper contextualization, making censorship inherently biased. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander discusses various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including strategies, mysteries, controversies, and global impacts. Longer summary

This blog post discusses various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the 'hammer and dance' strategy, smoking cessation, mysteries surrounding Japan's low case numbers, takeout food safety, ventilator numbers, the UK's policy reversal, density and infection rates, hydroxychloroquine controversy, concerns about developing countries, donation opportunities, cost-benefit analysis of lockdowns, US stimulus bill negotiations, and media coverage of the pandemic across the political spectrum. The post also includes short links to other coronavirus-related news and developments. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander addresses Infowars readers about a misattributed survey analysis, providing caveats and emphasizing proper attribution and vaccine safety. Longer summary

Scott Alexander addresses new readers from Infowars, who linked to his blog regarding a survey analysis about mental illness and political affiliation. He clarifies that the analysis was not his own but done by a Twitter user using his survey data. Scott provides several important caveats about the interpretation of these results, including potential biases in diagnosis rates and the unrepresentative nature of his blog's audience. He also points out that a similar finding was reported using the more rigorous General Social Survey. Scott emphasizes the importance of proper attribution in media reporting and reiterates the safety of vaccines. Shorter summary