Scott Alexander examines a study challenging ketamine's effectiveness as an antidepressant, discussing potential confounding factors and maintaining his belief in ketamine's utility despite the study's results. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses a recent study on ketamine's effectiveness as an antidepressant when administered during anesthesia. The study found no significant difference between ketamine and placebo groups, challenging previous beliefs about ketamine's antidepressant properties. Scott analyzes the study's methodology and results, pointing out several factors that might have influenced the outcomes, such as the strong placebo effect, the antidepressant properties of anesthetics, and the potential impact of surgery on depression symptoms. He concludes that while the study raises questions, it doesn't completely invalidate previous research showing ketamine's effectiveness, and he maintains his belief in ketamine's potential as an antidepressant for some patients. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines hypergamy in modern marriages, finding educational hypergamy has reversed while income hypergamy persists, with strong class homogamy for both genders. Longer summary

Scott Alexander examines the concept of hypergamy, particularly focusing on educational and income differences in heterosexual marriages. He finds that while educational hypergamy (women marrying more educated men) has reversed due to women's increasing educational attainment, income hypergamy (women marrying higher-earning men) persists. The post explores various studies on class, income, and educational matching in marriages, discusses the role of physical attractiveness, and touches on hypergamy in same-sex relationships. Scott concludes that class homogamy is strong for both genders, with looks playing a smaller role than often assumed in mate selection. Shorter summary

A diverse collection of links covering recent studies, unusual historical events, technological developments, and various curiosities across multiple fields. Longer summary

This post is a collection of various links and news items on diverse topics. It covers studies on pornography's effects, unusual military proposals, charter schools' success, climate change predictions, animal rights, restorative justice in schools, parenting advice, sexual selection theory, AI-generated content, breastfeeding patterns, visualization of classical music, Soviet whaling, cancel culture, housing legislation, embryo screening, retractions of scientific studies, gene drives, drug pricing, UFO sightings, cryopreservation, air conditioning efficiency, genetic testing for medication response, social justice terminology trends, napping benefits, nootropics survey results, Bitcoin price surge, transformer architecture in machine learning, fact-checking errors in popular books, challenges to persistence research, fringe ideologies in Japan, AI progress on language understanding, climate change risks, and various other curiosities and scientific findings. Shorter summary

A link roundup post covering various topics from video games to scientific studies, with Scott's commentary on each news item or piece of research. Longer summary

A collection of interesting links covering diverse topics including scientific studies (Tylenol and ADHD, obesity genetics), current events (self-driving Uber cars, DoJ ending private prisons), cultural observations, and historical curiosities. Scott provides brief commentary on each link, often critiquing methodology of studies or pointing out interesting implications. The post has a lighter tone when discussing oddities like torpedo juice or Desert Bus, but becomes more analytical when examining research claims or policy changes. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander critiques media reporting of scientific studies, showing how the same study can lead to vastly different headlines and interpretations, often misrepresenting the actual findings. Longer summary

Scott Alexander critiques media reporting of scientific studies, focusing on two examples: a study about parental time spent with children and another about weight discrimination. He shows how different media outlets can present the same study with vastly different, even contradictory headlines. In the weight discrimination study, he points out how the actual findings were much less significant than the media portrayed, with many important measures showing no discrimination. Scott argues that the process from conducting a study to its media reporting allows for too many 'degrees of freedom', resulting in headlines that may not accurately reflect the study's actual findings. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of reading beyond headlines and abstracts to understand scientific studies accurately. Shorter summary