Scott Alexander reviews 'The Revolt of the Public', a 2014 book that predicted the rise of social media-driven mass revolts against elites, finding its insights now obvious but acknowledging its prescience at the time of publication. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews Martin Gurri's 'The Revolt of the Public', a book from 2014 that predicted the rise of social media-connected masses revolting against elites. The book discusses various protest movements from 2011, including the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, characterizing them as leaderless, nihilistic, and driven by privileged groups. Gurri argues that the internet broke down the government-media-academia elite axis, leading to a crisis of legitimacy. The review critically examines Gurri's thesis, noting that some predictions haven't fully materialized and suggesting that the left-right political divide may have partially stalled the 'revolt of the public'. Scott concludes that while the book was prescient when published, its insights are now obvious, making it less relevant today. Shorter summary

A diverse collection of links on topics ranging from gerrymandering and health insurance to tech bubbles and extinction risk estimates, presented with minimal commentary. Longer summary

This post is a collection of various interesting links and news items. It covers a wide range of topics including gerrymandering, health insurance effects, corporate profits, drug pricing, media bias, ketamine research, tech bubbles, seasonal effects on mental health, FDA drug importation plans, research on sex differences, carbon capture technologies, birth order effects, waist-to-hip ratio preferences, extinction risk estimates, life sciences research, Google algorithm changes affecting health sites, online economy intricacies, fluoride effects on IQ, and many other diverse subjects. The post presents these items without much commentary, leaving readers to explore further on their own. Shorter summary