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philosophy of science (13)
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study critique (271)
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science (85)
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domain: slatestarcodex.com (1128 posts)
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domain: astralcodexten.com (564 posts)
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13 posts
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Highlights From The Comments On Tegmark's Mathematical Universe

Scott responds to comments and criticisms of his post about Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis and its implications for arguments about God's existence, addressing technical points about Boltzmann brains, simplicity measures, and philosophical objections.

acx
Feb 21, 2025 6,150 words 110 likes 563 comments Listen · 37 min Read Read Opened Opened

Highlights From The Comments On Criticism Of Criticism Of Criticism

Scott Alexander responds to comments on his post about criticism of EA, addressing various points about scientific paradigms, types of criticism, and the ethics of evangelism.

acx
Jul 28, 2022 4,662 words 67 likes 192 comments Listen · 30 min Read Read Opened Opened

Your Book Review: On The Natural Faculties

This review of Galen's 'On the Natural Faculties' challenges common misconceptions about the ancient physician, portraying him as more empirical and scientifically-minded than typically believed.

acx
Apr 9, 2021 7,731 words 149 likes 214 comments Listen · 49 min Read Read Opened Opened

More Intuition-Building On Non-Empirical Science: Three Stories

Scott Alexander uses three fictional stories to illustrate principles of non-empirical scientific reasoning, ultimately applying them to support the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.

ssc
Nov 18, 2019 713 words 0 likes 326 comments Listen · 7 min Read Read Opened Opened

Building Intuitions On Non-Empirical Arguments In Science

Scott Alexander argues that non-empirical reasoning, based on principles like simplicity and elegance, is a necessary and legitimate part of scientific practice, even for evaluating seemingly untestable theories.

ssc
Nov 6, 2019 3,505 words 0 likes 438 comments Listen · 27 min Read Read Opened Opened

Don’t Fear The Simulators

Scott Alexander argues against the fear of angering simulators by testing if we're in a simulation, stating that competent simulators would prevent discovery or expect such tests as part of civilizational development.

ssc
Aug 21, 2019 678 words 0 likes 220 comments Listen · 6 min Read Read Opened Opened

Highlights From The Comments On Kuhn

Scott Alexander presents highlights from reader comments on his review of Kuhn's 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions', offering various perspectives and clarifications on Kuhn's ideas about scientific progress.

ssc
Jan 17, 2019 6,125 words 0 likes 80 comments Listen · 43 min Read Read Opened Opened

Paradigms All The Way Down

Scott Alexander presents a 'Grand Unified Chart' showing how different domains of knowledge share a similar structure in interpreting the world, arguing this is due to basic brain algorithms and effective epistemology.

ssc
Jan 10, 2019 650 words 0 likes 58 comments Listen · 7 min Read Read Opened Opened

Book Review: The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions

Scott reviews Kuhn's 'Structure of Scientific Revolutions', finding its thesis on paradigm shifts in science intriguing but frustratingly vague, especially beyond physics.

ssc
Jan 8, 2019 5,817 words 0 likes 174 comments Listen · 42 min Read Read Opened Opened

Why I Am Not Rene Descartes

Scott Alexander refutes a blog post criticizing rationalism, arguing it misunderstands the movement and its core values of empiricism, scholarship, and humility.

ssc
Nov 27, 2014 3,775 words 0 likes 567 comments Read Read Opened Opened

The Guardian vs. Induction

Scott Alexander criticizes a Guardian article's flawed reasoning in claiming 'Limits to Growth' accurately predicts economic collapse, comparing it to the philosophical 'grue-bleen induction problem'.

ssc
Sep 3, 2014 1,374 words 0 likes 82 comments Read Read Opened Opened

Book Review and Highlights: Quantum Computing Since Democritus

Scott Alexander reviews 'Quantum Computing Since Democritus' by Scott Aaronson, sharing insights gained despite the book's complexity and his own mathematical limitations.

ssc
Sep 1, 2014 3,139 words 0 likes 183 comments Read Read Opened Opened

A defense of logical positivism (yes, really)

Scott Alexander defends logical positivism, arguing that despite its flaws, it points to useful ideas about dividing meaningful statements into scientific and logical categories.

ssc
Feb 21, 2013 1,217 words 0 likes 34 comments Read Read Opened Opened
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