Scott Alexander reviews 'Inventing The Future', critiquing its communist strategy while acknowledging its utopian vision. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews 'Inventing The Future', a book by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams that outlines a plan for achieving a postcapitalist world. The book critiques 'folk politics' on the left, advocates for a Mont Pelerin Society-like approach to spreading communist ideas, and proposes a platform of full automation, universal basic income, reduced work weeks, and diminished work ethic. Scott finds the book's arguments often unconvincing and its intended audience unclear, but respects the authors' utopian vision despite disagreeing with their paradigm. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander reviews G.K. Chesterton's 'What's Wrong With The World', analyzing its critiques of early 20th century society and its proposed solutions. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews G.K. Chesterton's 1910 book 'What's Wrong With The World', discussing Chesterton's critique of early 20th century society and his proposed solutions. The review highlights Chesterton's unique writing style, his opposition to both conservative and progressive ideologies of his time, and his call for a return to traditional values. Scott also critically examines Chesterton's arguments, pointing out their limitations and the challenges of implementing such ideas in the modern world. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander proposes a utopian scientific system using prediction markets and impartial researchers to eliminate bias and efficiently resolve controversies. Longer summary

Scott Alexander describes a utopian scientific system in the fictional culture of Raikoth. In this system, anyone can do exploratory research, but confirmatory experiments are funded through prediction markets and conducted by impartial consultant scientists. The system includes pre-registration of experiments, public statements of predictions by experts, and financial incentives for accurate predictions. This approach aims to eliminate bias, increase transparency, and efficiently resolve scientific controversies. The post ends by highlighting the benefits of such a system, including the elimination of pseudoscience and the creation of a comprehensive, dynamic list of scientific hypotheses and their probabilities. Shorter summary