The review examines Daniel Everett's 'How Language Began', which challenges Chomsky's linguistic theories and proposes an alternative view of language as a gradual cultural invention. Longer summary

This book review discusses Daniel Everett's 'How Language Began', which challenges Noam Chomsky's dominant theories in linguistics. Everett argues that language emerged gradually over a long period, is primarily for communication, and is not innate but a cultural invention. The review contrasts Everett's views with Chomsky's, detailing Everett's research with the Pirahã people and his alternative theory of language origins. It also touches on the controversy Everett's work has sparked in linguistics and its potential implications for understanding language and AI. Shorter summary

The review of 'The Mind of a Bee' examines the cognitive abilities of bees, raising questions about their intelligence and potential consciousness. Longer summary

This book review of 'The Mind of a Bee' by Lars Chittka explores the complex cognitive abilities of bees, discussing their behaviors, brain structure, and potential for consciousness. The review covers topics such as the waggle dance, honeycomb construction, brain waves, and various experiments demonstrating bees' problem-solving skills. While not definitively answering whether bees are 'smart' or conscious, the review highlights the complexity of bee cognition and the challenges in studying animal intelligence. Shorter summary

A book review examining the history of Nature journal and how it became one of the most prestigious scientific publications. Longer summary

This book review explores the history of the scientific journal Nature, focusing on how it gained its prestigious status. The review is structured in three parts: Nature's origins in 1869, its first century of building reputation, and the shift towards prestige in the 1970s. The author argues that Nature's success was due to factors like publication speed, network effects, and survival through financial difficulties. The review also discusses the broader context of scientific publishing and the rise of prestige in the 1970s, suggesting that the founding of the journal Cell in 1974 may have been a pivotal moment in this shift. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines obscure pregnancy interventions that may improve child outcomes, rating them by evidence quality and potential impact. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews various obscure pregnancy interventions that could potentially improve child outcomes, particularly IQ. He rates them in tiers based on evidence strength and potential impact, with Tier 1 being most strongly supported. Key interventions discussed include embryo selection, choline supplementation, avoiding stress and certain substances, and optimizing birth timing. He emphasizes these are extreme measures not meant to induce guilt, and that standard pregnancy advice is still most important. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander explores various applications and recent developments in prediction markets and forecasting, covering topics from election betting to teacher evaluation and social media moderation. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses several topics related to prediction markets and forecasting. He starts with the concept of a Keynesian beauty contest applied to long-term forecasting, then analyzes recent developments in PredictIt markets, particularly the Virginia gubernatorial election. He explores the idea of using prediction markets to evaluate teacher performance, and examines some recent Metaculus predictions on SpaceX valuation, college enrollment, and AI code assistance adoption. The post also covers Vitalik Buterin's proposal for using prediction markets in social media moderation, and concludes with various links to prediction market-related news and articles. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a curated list of 37 diverse and interesting links, covering topics from historical events to recent scientific studies, with brief summaries and occasional commentary. Longer summary

This post is a collection of 37 links to various articles, studies, and interesting facts across a wide range of topics. Scott Alexander presents these links with brief summaries or comments, covering subjects from historical events and scientific studies to economic theories and technological advancements. The tone is informative and sometimes humorous, with Scott occasionally offering personal opinions or admitting to previous errors. The links span diverse areas including politics, psychology, economics, technology, and culture. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting links and news items, covering topics from historical anecdotes to recent scientific studies and cultural trends. Longer summary

This post is a collection of interesting links and news items from various fields. It covers topics such as historical anecdotes, scientific studies, political developments, technological innovations, and cultural trends. The author, Scott Alexander, provides brief summaries and sometimes adds his own commentary or humorous observations. The post touches on subjects like cryptocurrency, open access scientific publishing, genetic research, social media effects on polarization, and artificial intelligence developments. It also includes updates on ongoing stories and mysteries, such as the illness affecting US diplomats and the discovery of ancient skeletons in Tibet. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander attempts to understand and explain Karl Friston's complex 'free energy' principle in neuroscience, exploring its various interpretations and potential implications. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores Karl Friston's work on 'free energy', a complex concept in neuroscience that has been described as a unified brain theory. The post delves into various interpretations of free energy, from its mathematical origins in Bayesian equations to its application in explaining perception, cognition, homeostasis, and action. Scott struggles to fully grasp the concept, acknowledging its complexity and the widespread difficulty in understanding Friston's work. He presents different perspectives on free energy, including its role in uncertainty reduction, its connection to predictive processing, and its potential to explain biological systems and the origin of life. The post concludes with a tentative synthesis of these ideas and raises questions about the implications of the free energy principle for machine ethics. Shorter summary

A Links post presenting various news items and articles, ranging from cultural curiosities like the multiocular O to scientific findings about brain sex differences and genetic research, along with commentary on current events and politics. Longer summary

Scott Alexander presents a collection of interesting links and articles covering a wide range of topics. The post includes scientific findings (like research on sex differences in the brain and studies on antidepressants), cultural curiosities (like rare Cyrillic letters), political developments (like the White House's decision on Exxon drilling rights), and various technological advances (like an AI that writes poetry). The post provides brief commentary on each link, often with Scott's characteristically analytical and sometimes humorous perspective on the implications of each item. Shorter summary

Scott examines conflicting evidence on whether humans choose mates based on parental imprinting or genetics, concluding that mate choice might be based on mysterious romantic love. Longer summary

This post explores the question of how humans choose their mates, examining theories of imprinting on parents versus genetic influences. It reviews several studies on animals and humans, including twin studies, that provide conflicting evidence. The post starts by discussing psychoanalytic theories and animal studies supporting imprinting, then moves to human studies with mixed results. It then examines twin studies that surprisingly show little genetic influence on mate choice. The post ends with the suggestion that mate choice might be based on romantic love, which is beyond scientific understanding. Throughout, Scott maintains a skeptical and sometimes humorous tone, highlighting the complexity and contradictions in the research. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander refutes PZ Myers' race car analogy against genetic engineering for intelligence, showing that high IQ positively correlates with many beneficial traits. Longer summary

Scott Alexander critiques PZ Myers' argument against genetic engineering for intelligence, which uses a race car analogy to suggest optimizing for intelligence might trade off against other important traits. Scott shows that, contrary to this intuition, high IQ correlates positively with many desirable traits like longevity, height, and health. He explores possible explanations for this, including heterozygosity advantages, mutational load, and trade-offs with traits important in evolutionary history but less so now. Scott concludes that while caution is warranted, the race car argument is likely less of an impediment to genetic engineering than it might seem. Shorter summary

Ozy Frantz provides a detailed critique of common 'manosphere' beliefs, particularly those of blogger Heartiste, using scientific studies and logical arguments to counter claims about human sexuality and dating. Longer summary

This post is a detailed rebuttal of many common beliefs within the 'manosphere', particularly focusing on the blogger Heartiste. The author, Ozy Frantz, argues against Heartiste's views on human sexual interaction, beauty standards, gender differences, and dating strategies. They provide counterarguments supported by scientific studies and logical reasoning, addressing topics such as physical attractiveness, femininity, sluttiness, and 'game' techniques. The post also touches on issues of evolutionary psychology, societal norms, and the nature of human sexuality. Throughout, Ozy maintains a skeptical stance towards many manosphere claims while acknowledging some gender differences do exist. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of recent news items, studies, and interesting facts, covering topics from public health to economics to quirky trivia. Longer summary

This post is a collection of diverse news items, studies, and interesting facts curated by Scott Alexander. It covers a wide range of topics including public health policies, economics, scientific discoveries, social issues, and quirky facts. Scott provides brief commentary on many of the items, often with a touch of humor or irony. The post doesn't have a central theme but rather serves as a roundup of interesting information Scott has come across recently. Shorter summary