Scott reflects on how COVID-19's massive death toll of 1.2 million Americans has been overshadowed in public discourse by more controversial but less significant aspects of the pandemic.

Scott responds to comments and criticisms of his post about Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis and its implications for arguments about God's existence, addressing technical points about Boltzmann brains, simplicity measures, and philosophical objections.

Scott Alexander and 1DaySooner outline potential positive health policy initiatives that could emerge under three key Trump administration health appointees: Jim O'Neill, Marty Makary, and Jay Bhattacharya.

Scott Alexander responds to Robin Hanson's reply on medical effectiveness, clarifying interpretations and reiterating arguments about the limitations of insurance experiments in evaluating medical care.

Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of links and brief discussions on topics including AI developments, social trends, scientific studies, and cultural phenomena.

Scott Alexander presents evidence against the existence of advanced Ice Age civilizations, particularly those rivaling ancient Egypt or 1700s Great Britain.

Scott Alexander examines the concept of 'light water' and its potential health benefits, critically analyzing various arguments while expressing fascination with this unexpected area of scientific inquiry.

Scott Alexander's links post covers historical oddities, scientific studies, social issues, and tech developments, ranging from pet monkeys to AI progress.

Scott Alexander explores various COVID-19 topics including lockdown effectiveness, infection rate variations, transmission risks, prediction markets, and ethical considerations of pandemic response.

Scott Alexander argues that the media's failure in coronavirus coverage was not about prediction, but about poor probabilistic reasoning and decision-making under uncertainty.

Scott Alexander reviews John Gottman's marriage counseling methods, finding them intuitively appealing but scientifically questionable.

A diverse collection of links to interesting articles, studies, and news items on topics ranging from history and science to politics and culture.

Scott Alexander humorously describes his observations at the American Psychiatric Association meeting, highlighting pharmaceutical influence, social justice focus, and historical context of psychiatry.

A diverse collection of news items and interesting links covering science, technology, politics, and culture, with brief commentary on each.

Scott Alexander examines the fate of 1990s environmental concerns, finding a mix of solved problems, exaggerated issues, and ongoing challenges that have faded from public attention.

A diverse collection of links covering history, science, politics, culture, and curiosities, presented with humor and interesting facts.

Scott Alexander discusses new research suggesting ketamine's antidepressant effects may be linked to the opioid system, exploring the implications and potential future directions for depression treatment.

Scott explores how acetylcholine-related cognitive enhancers might work by increasing sensory precision and learning rate, while speculating on potential tradeoffs and acknowledging the highly speculative nature of these ideas.

The post explores how correlated variables can diverge at extreme values, applying this concept to happiness measures and moral systems.

Scott Alexander examines conflicting narratives about cancer treatment progress, analyzing data to show that while some improvements are due to social factors, there's evidence of genuine advancements in cancer treatment and outcomes.

Scott Alexander examines melatonin's effects, proper dosage, and uses for sleep disorders and circadian rhythm issues, emphasizing its dual role as a hypnotic and chronobiotic.

Scott Alexander examines whether psychiatrists should test for lead more often, concluding that while it could be relevant in some cases, there's not enough evidence to justify universal testing.

Scott Alexander examines self-serving bias and status quo defense using Oregon's gas station law change, arguing for better rational debate skills to navigate societal changes.

Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting links covering topics from architecture to AI, with brief summaries and occasional humorous commentary.

Scott Alexander challenges the popular interpretation of the Rat Park study, arguing that addiction is not solely caused by poor environments and emphasizing genetic factors in addiction susceptibility.