Scott reviews 'Arabian Nights', exploring its themes, fantastical elements, and proposing a meta-interpretation of Scheherazade's storytelling strategy. Longer summary

Scott reviews 'One Thousand And One Nights', also known as 'Arabian Nights'. He describes the framing story of Scheherazade telling stories to King Shahryar to save her life, and explores the themes and recurring elements in the tales. Scott notes the prevalence of adultery, particularly involving black men, and describes the idealized Middle Eastern setting. He discusses various elements like genies, magic, diversity, religion, and fantastical creatures. The review then speculates on Scheherazade's storytelling strategy, suggesting she might be teaching the king to build better mental categories. Finally, Scott proposes a meta-interpretation where Scheherazade uses nested storytelling to exploit indexical uncertainty, potentially influencing her own reality. Shorter summary

A short story about a genie granting a wish for the cure to cancer, with a twist highlighting the practical challenges of drug development and approval. Longer summary

This post is a short fictional story about a genie and a wish. The narrator frees a genie from a lamp and is granted one question. They ask for the cure for cancer, and the genie provides a specific answer: a compound called oxymercuriphine from the venom of the two-toed toad of Toronto. The twist comes when the genie, while technically fulfilling the wish, points out the practical difficulties of bringing such a cure to market due to the expensive and time-consuming FDA approval process. Shorter summary