Scott examines five potential mechanisms of cultural evolution, discussing their strengths and limitations, and concludes that they don't strongly justify preserving specific cultural features. Longer summary

This post discusses various ways cultural evolution can occur, based on comments from a previous post. It explores five scenarios: super-innovations allowing one culture to dominate others, differential breeding rates between groups, evolution of subcultures, accretion of beneficial practices, and prehistoric cultural evolution. Scott analyzes each scenario, noting their strengths and limitations. He concludes that while cultural evolution has potential to be interesting, it doesn't provide a strong argument for preserving specific cultural features without additional justification. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines ecclesiology in non-religious movements, using the Catholic Church as a model of organizational success, and questions why other causes don't adopt similar structures. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the concept of ecclesiology in non-religious movements, examining how organizations can effectively capture and direct the energy of their members. He discusses the trade-offs involved in organizational design, such as strictness vs. relaxation, orthodoxy vs. flexibility, and top-down vs. bottom-up control. The post then highlights the Catholic Church as an impressively successful organization, analyzing its key features. Finally, Scott ponders why other movements don't adopt similar church-like structures, suggesting that there might be a memetic immune response against such organizations in modern society. Shorter summary

Scott criticizes the approach to mysticism popularized by Robert Anton Wilson, arguing it provides false rewards and promotes harmful dabbling instead of genuine practice. Longer summary

Scott reflects on his past interest in Robert Anton Wilson's writings and mysticism in general, comparing it to his high school fascination with physics. He argues that learning about mysticism is different from actually practicing it, much like reading about physics isn't the same as doing physics. Scott identifies three main problems with the Anton-Wilson approach to mysticism: it provides a false sense of reward, encourages conspiracy thinking, and promotes harmful dabbling. He concludes that if he were to pursue mysticism again, he would focus on practicing one tradition at a time, avoiding the temptation to mix different approaches or read extensively about mysticism without actually doing it. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander introduces his new blog, Slate Star Codex, and explains its ethos of 'charity over absurdity' in intellectual discourse. Longer summary

Scott Alexander introduces his new blog, Slate Star Codex, explaining its name and ethos. The blog's central principle is 'charity over absurdity,' which means trying to understand opposing viewpoints rather than dismissing them outright. Scott explains this concept using Chesterton's Fence analogy and emphasizes the importance of charitable interpretation in intellectual discourse. He argues that this approach is not only ethically sound but also intellectually advantageous, as it can lead to a deeper understanding of complex issues. Shorter summary