Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting links on topics ranging from geography and drug policy to technology and economics, with brief summaries and comments. Longer summary

This post is a collection of links to various interesting articles, studies, and news stories. It covers a wide range of topics including geography, drug policy, technology, history, economics, science, and politics. Scott Alexander provides brief summaries or comments on each link, often with a touch of humor or irony. The post doesn't have a central theme but rather serves as a curated list of diverse and intriguing information from various fields. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous, finding it and other treatments only marginally better than no treatment, based on flawed and inconclusive studies. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews the evidence on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) effectiveness, finding most studies to be flawed or inconclusive. He notes that AA seems to work about as well as other treatments, but only slightly better than no treatment at all. The post explores various studies, their methodologies, and their limitations, ultimately concluding that while AA and other treatments may help, their effects are small and often indistinguishable from each other or from brief interventions by doctors. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a roundup of recent scientific and medical studies, covering topics from hallucinations to obesity genetics to schizophrenia treatment. Longer summary

This post is a collection of various scientific and medical studies and news. It covers a range of topics including hallucinations, diet and longevity, gene-environment interactions in psychiatry, life-extending drugs, fibromyalgia, chemical education, drug company tactics, sleep theories, psychotherapy effectiveness, obesity genetics, and schizophrenia treatment. Scott provides brief summaries and commentary on each item, often with a mix of scientific insight and humor. Shorter summary