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

Scott Alexander responds to comments and criticism on his earlier post about 'Missing Heritability', discussing issues like gene-environment interactions, sequencing technology limitations, and the use of polygenic scores across ancestry groups. Longer summary

This post compiles and responds to notable comments on Scott's earlier post about 'Missing Heritability'. The post is structured in four sections, starting with responses from experts named in the original post, particularly Sasha Gusev who critiques the treatment of gene-environment interactions and cross-population polygenic scores. The second section features detailed technical comments from knowledgeable readers about topics like genetic interactions and sequencing technology limitations. The third section addresses specific corrections to the original post, while the final section covers various other interesting comments and discussions. Throughout, Scott engages with the criticisms and new perspectives while maintaining his original position on most key points. Shorter summary

Scott explores the 'missing heritability' problem in genetics, where twin studies show traits like IQ and educational attainment are highly heritable but newer genomic methods find much lower heritability, analyzing various potential explanations for this discrepancy. Longer summary

The post examines the 'missing heritability' problem in genetics, where twin studies consistently show behavioral traits like IQ and educational attainment are substantially heritable (around 40-60%), while newer genomic methods find much lower heritability (around 15-20%). Scott reviews the history of behavioral genetics research, explains various study methodologies and their potential biases, and analyzes different hypotheses for this discrepancy. He examines whether twin studies might be flawed, whether newer methods might be missing important genetic effects, and whether educational attainment might be an unusually problematic trait to study. While acknowledging remaining mysteries, he tentatively concludes that twin studies are probably largely correct and that newer methods may be missing rare variants and genetic interactions. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a curated list of 31 diverse links and news items, covering topics from politics and science to cultural phenomena and AI developments. Longer summary

This post is a collection of 31 diverse links and news items curated by Scott Alexander. The topics range from unusual political titles and daylight savings time to AI-generated music albums and controversial scientific claims. Scott covers various subjects including community building, political disputes, cultural phenomena, and scientific developments. The post maintains a mix of serious commentary and humorous observations, touching on topics like the ACLU's labor dispute, a full-scale Tower of Babel replica, and claims about increasing IQ. It also includes updates from ACX grantees and discussions on urban planning and noise pollution. Shorter summary

A compilation of 55 diverse links and brief commentaries on various topics, including scientific studies, historical anecdotes, cultural phenomena, and technological developments. Longer summary

This post is a collection of 55 diverse links and brief commentaries on various topics, ranging from scientific studies and historical anecdotes to cultural phenomena and technological developments. The author covers subjects such as economic miracles, AI developments, religious trends, and social issues. Many items include claims or studies that the author finds interesting or surprising, often with a skeptical or analytical perspective. The post also includes updates on previous topics discussed by the author and references to other bloggers or researchers in the rationalist and effective altruism communities. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander explores how evolutionary processes explain the polygenic structure of schizophrenia and other complex traits, addressing concerns about genetic research and implications for future genetic interventions. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses the polygenic nature of schizophrenia and other complex traits, explaining how evolution shapes genetic structures. He presents arguments by E. Fuller Torrey about the lack of large-effect genes for schizophrenia and its persistence despite negative fitness effects. Scott then explores how these seemingly contradictory points actually explain each other: evolution removes large-effect genes, leaving only small-effect genes that accumulate to cause disorders. He discusses three possible reasons for the persistence of these small-effect genes and their implications for genetic selection and engineering. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander argues that schizophrenia should be described as predominantly genetic, addressing counterarguments and emphasizing the importance of this perspective for prevention strategies. Longer summary

Scott Alexander argues that it's fair and accurate to describe schizophrenia as predominantly genetic. He responds to various arguments against this characterization, comparing the situation to how we discuss smoking causing lung cancer. Scott emphasizes that while environmental factors play a role, genetic factors account for the majority of variance in schizophrenia risk. He argues that acknowledging the genetic nature of schizophrenia is important for developing effective prevention strategies, such as polygenic screening, rather than focusing solely on hard-to-control environmental factors. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander uses simulations to explain why seemingly counterintuitive arguments against the genetic basis of schizophrenia are misleading. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses two seemingly counterintuitive arguments against the genetic basis of schizophrenia and explains why they're not as compelling as they might appear. He uses a simplified simulation to demonstrate how a highly heritable disorder can have low twin concordance rates and why eliminating affected individuals doesn't significantly reduce prevalence in the next generation. The post aims to clarify common misunderstandings about polygenic disorders and their inheritance patterns. Shorter summary