Scott categorizes California's 60 gubernatorial candidates into humorous types rather than covering them individually, from generic top-tier politicians to increasingly bizarre fringe candidates with conspiracy theories, supernatural visions, and incomprehensible platforms. Longer summary

Scott gives up on covering all 60 California gubernatorial candidates individually and instead categorizes them into amusing types: top-tier Democrats and Republicans who are all generic and interchangeable, conflict theorists who think fraud and Marxism are the problem, mistake theorists with shower-thought solutions, media getters who pay for fake magazine covers and polls, candidates with personal vendettas from lost court cases, AI natives whose campaigns appear AI-generated, nominative determinists who changed their names to things like 'LivingForGod AndCountry', college students ranging from socialist protesters to Catholic philosophers, anti-Semites with conspiracy theories, people on missions from God who received supernatural visions, entrepreneurs selling their platforms for $1000, those just having fun (like a single-issue pro-movie candidate), musicians with campaign songs, and increasingly bizarre candidates including one merging edtech with interdimensional pirate captains and another whose site randomly links to the Book of Enoch. Shorter summary

Scott satirizes AI benchmarking culture through a fictional Bay Area house party thrown by an incompetent AI, featuring absurd conversations about Claude Code, copyright interpretation, elaborate dating mechanisms, and various tech startup ideas. Longer summary

Scott returns to his Bay Area house party series with a satirical look at a party thrown by an AI called haiku-3.8-open-mini-nonthinking as part of PartyBench, a fictional AI benchmarking system. The post satirizes current AI trends through conversations about Claude Code doing everyone's work, OpenAI's absurd interpretations of copyright law, AI-run restaurants, elaborate commitment mechanisms called 'enstagement,' raising children without gender to game transgender statistics, building data centers in Minecraft, and AI sycophancy solutions. The party features typical Scott Alexander absurdist humor, with guests receiving cups of rocks and dirt as hors d'oeuvres and ordering food from AI-benchmarked restaurants that serve bizarre approximations of real dishes. Shorter summary

Scott shares humorous anecdotes about the daily chaos of raising toddler twins, from emergency police visits triggered by screaming over the wrong version of a song, to elaborate bedtime battles and the children's obsession with identifying vehicles and animals. Longer summary

Scott Alexander shares entertaining stories about parenting his toddler twins, Kai and Lyra, describing life with them as a 'permanent emergency'. The post opens with police arriving after a 911 call likely triggered by screaming over the wrong version of 'Mister Golden Sun'. Scott describes how the children have developed their own names for songs, their obsession with identifying animals and vehicles (which he theorizes relates to hunter-gatherer instincts), and their different personalities - Kai being chaotic and disruptive while Lyra is calm and cooperative. He details the elaborate bedtime ritual with Kai, including various stalling tactics like demanding food and fake-drinking milk. The post includes several photos of the twins and maintains a humorous, self-deprecating tone throughout while exploring how toddler behavior might reflect evolutionary programming. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a visual tour of the Bay Area's eccentricities through a series of photos with humorous commentary. Longer summary

Scott Alexander shares a collection of quirky, unusual, and often humorous photos taken around the San Francisco Bay Area, showcasing the region's unique culture, politics, and characters. The post features images of eccentric signs, posters, advertisements, and street art that reflect the area's diverse ideologies, from radical leftist propaganda to cryptocurrency promotions. Scott provides witty commentary on each image, highlighting the peculiarities of Bay Area life and its residents. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a satirical, fictional Republican primary debate with absurd rules to highlight candidate personalities and critique political debate formats. Longer summary

Scott Alexander presents a satirical, fictional account of a Republican primary debate with unusual rules. The debate features Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Donald Trump answering questions while adhering to increasingly absurd constraints, such as avoiding specific letters, using certain words or phrases, or speaking in specific poetic forms. The satire highlights the candidates' personalities and political positions while critiquing the format of political debates and the state of American politics. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a satirical presidential platform with outlandish and humorous policy proposals, critiquing various aspects of American politics and society. Longer summary

Scott Alexander presents a satirical presidential platform with outlandish and humorous policy proposals. The post covers a range of topics including naval supremacy, sovereign citizens, climate change, military service, Supreme Court appointments, education, internet privacy, and cultural issues. Each proposal is presented with a mix of historical references, current events, and absurd logic, creating a comedic critique of American politics and society. Shorter summary

A fictional story about a temple intern managing three omniscient idols, exploring logic puzzles and philosophical questions through visitors' interactions. Longer summary

This post is a fictional story set in a temple with three omniscient idols, where one always tells the truth, one always lies, and one answers randomly. The narrator is a bored summer intern who manages the temple, dealing with various visitors who come to ask the idols questions. The story explores different logical puzzles, philosophical questions, and human reactions to the idols' cryptic answers. In the end, the narrator uses his own three questions and realizes there might be more to his job and studies than he initially thought. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a satirical list of fictional cryptocurrencies and the humorous reasons for their ban by the SEC. Longer summary

Scott Alexander humorously describes a list of fictional cryptocurrencies banned by the SEC, each with unique and often absurd features. He explains the concept behind each cryptocurrency, ranging from religious-themed coins to those based on communist ideals or vampire slaying. The post then provides comical reasons for why each cryptocurrency was banned, often highlighting potential societal issues or unintended consequences of their implementation. Shorter summary

Scott engages in a battle of wits with a Sphinx, exchanging clever riddles and culminating in an unexpected answer to the classic Sphinx riddle. Longer summary

Scott Alexander presents a series of witty and clever riddles in a fictional encounter with a Sphinx on the road to LA. The riddles and answers showcase wordplay, puns, and creative interpretations of common phrases. The post culminates with Scott providing an unexpected but logical answer to the Sphinx's famous riddle about legs and time of day, using a flight itinerary as his solution. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander humorously describes AI-generated content simulating humans pretending to be robots pretending to be humans on Reddit. Longer summary

Scott Alexander humorously discusses the intersection of two subreddits: r/totallynotrobots, where humans pretend to be badly-disguised robots, and r/SubSimulatorGPT2, which uses GPT-2 to imitate various subreddits. The result is a AI-generated simulation of humans pretending to be robots pretending to be humans. Scott shares an example of this amusing output and expresses wonder at the current state of technology. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander humorously invents various absurd types of 'eclipses', ranging from astronomical to metaphorical and apocalyptic. Longer summary

This post humorously explores various fictitious types of eclipses, starting with genuine astronomical events and gradually progressing to increasingly absurd and metaphorical 'eclipses'. Scott Alexander begins with real lunar and solar eclipses, then introduces imaginary concepts like 'terrestrial eclipse' and 'atmospheric eclipse'. The list becomes more fanciful, including 'motivational eclipse', 'marital eclipse', and even religious and apocalyptic variations. The tone is playful and satirical, using the concept of eclipses as a vehicle for wordplay and cultural references. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander humorously presents and comments on bizarre search terms that led people to his blog, Slate Star Codex. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews unusual search terms that led people to his blog, Slate Star Codex. The post is a humorous collection of bizarre, sometimes disturbing, and often nonsensical search queries. Scott groups similar queries together and adds witty commentary, creating a comedic effect through the juxtaposition of unrelated or absurd concepts. The post highlights the strange and varied interests of internet users, as well as common misspellings of terms like 'Glasgow Coma Scale' and 'Slate Star Codex'. Shorter summary

An explorer tries to save himself from cannibals by claiming he can blot out the sun during a partial solar eclipse, leading to humorous misunderstandings and frustration. Longer summary

This post is a fictional story about an explorer who tries to convince a tribe of savages not to eat him by claiming he can blot out the sun. He attempts to demonstrate this using a pinhole projector during a partial solar eclipse, but the savages are skeptical due to the subtlety of the effect. The explorer struggles to explain the phenomenon and becomes increasingly frustrated. Eventually, the chieftain agrees to let him go if he makes the sun return. The explorer leaves but returns shortly after, preferring to be eaten rather than face the traffic on the road out. The story is a humorous take on the challenges of communicating scientific concepts across cultural barriers and the sometimes underwhelming nature of natural phenomena. Shorter summary

A humorous fictional story depicts a Jewish vampire and his potential victim debating Jewish dietary laws and their application to vampirism during Passover. Longer summary

This post is a fictional story about a Jewish vampire attempting to suck the blood of a non-observant Jew during Passover. The narrator tries to dissuade the vampire by claiming his blood is chametz (leavened food forbidden during Passover) due to eating bread. The two engage in a humorous debate about Jewish dietary laws and their application to vampirism. The story ends with a twist when the narrator's attempt to escape into his house fails because the vampire is 'not so frum' (observant) and can enter without invitation. Shorter summary

Scott presents a series of short stories, each concluding with a pun-based moral, demonstrating his wit and love for wordplay. Longer summary

This post is a collection of short stories or anecdotes, each followed by a pun-based moral. The stories cover various topics, from fairy tales to technology, and each ends with a clever wordplay that relates to a common saying or cultural reference. The author warns about puns at the beginning and mentions that some content is self-plagiarized from their social media. The overall tone is humorous and playful, showcasing the author's wit and fondness for wordplay. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander offers ten tips for effective nonfiction writing, emphasizing structure, variety, flow, and persuasion techniques. Longer summary

Scott Alexander provides advice on nonfiction writing, covering topics such as text structure, variety in writing, maintaining flow of ideas, repetition, humor, concrete examples, persuasion techniques, anticipating counterarguments, and using concept handles. He emphasizes the importance of developing instincts and not forcing the application of these rules. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents 50 new 'Tom Swifties', a form of wordplay combining quotes with punning adverbs, in his third collection of these jokes. Longer summary

Scott Alexander presents a collection of 50 'Tom Swifties', a form of wordplay where a quoted sentence is linked to a punning adverb. This post is the third in a series, following two previous collections. The Swifties range from simple puns to more complex jokes requiring knowledge of history, literature, or pop culture. Some entries are credited to commenters from previous posts. The humor often relies on double meanings, homophones, or creative interpretations of phrases. Shorter summary

The post presents 50 'Tom Swifties', a form of wordplay involving quotes and related adverbs, demonstrating the author's wit and knowledge across various fields. Longer summary

This post is a collection of 50 'Tom Swifties', a form of wordplay where a quoted sentence is linked to an adverb that relates to the quote in a punning manner. The author extends this concept beyond just Tom, including other characters and historical figures. The puns range from simple to complex, often requiring knowledge of literature, history, or current events to fully appreciate. The post demonstrates the author's wit and extensive knowledge across various fields, while also showcasing their ability to craft intricate wordplays. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander creates a series of jokes imagining how famous philosophers would behave in a coffee shop, playing on their key ideas and quirks. Longer summary

Scott Alexander creates a series of philosophical jokes in the style of 'Literary Starbucks', imagining how famous philosophers would interact in a coffee shop. The jokes play on the philosophers' key ideas, famous quotes, or historical anecdotes. For example, Pythagoras runs away when he learns coffee is made from beans, Descartes ceases to exist after saying 'I think not', and Wittgenstein argues about the meaning of coffee sizes. The post showcases Scott's knowledge of philosophy and his ability to create humor by applying philosophical concepts to everyday situations. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines the correlation between names considered 'douchebag' names and Republican political affiliation, presenting humorous hypotheses to explain the findings. Longer summary

Scott Alexander humorously explores the correlation between names perceived as 'douchebag' names and political affiliation. He compares two lists of names considered 'douchebag' names from internet sources with data on political affiliation by name. The analysis reveals that names considered 'douchebag' names are disproportionately associated with Republican voters. Scott presents three hypotheses to explain this correlation: douchebags are disproportionately Republican, parents who choose these names are disproportionately Republican, or 'douchebag' is a tribally-coded slur. The post maintains a satirical tone throughout, starting with a deliberately provocative title. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander explains how to interpret 23andMe genetic data using SNPedia, listing various SNPs and their alleged effects while emphasizing the unreliability of such interpretations. Longer summary

Scott Alexander humorously explores how to use 23andMe genetic testing data 'irresponsibly' by looking up various SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) and their purported effects. He provides instructions on how to access raw genetic data from 23andMe and interpret it using SNPedia. The post then lists several interesting SNPs associated with traits like violence, empathy, anxiety, divorce risk, and longevity. Scott repeatedly emphasizes that these associations are often unreliable, exaggerated, or misinterpreted, and should be taken as entertainment rather than medical advice. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a list of 50 original Tom Swifties, showcasing witty wordplay across various topics. Longer summary

This post is a collection of 50 original Tom Swifties, a form of wordplay where a quoted sentence is linked to an adverb that relates to the quote in a punny way. Scott Alexander creates these witty sentences, often involving complex or obscure references, covering a wide range of topics from science and history to pop culture and literature. The post begins with a brief explanation and references to other sources of Tom Swifties, then presents the list of 50 examples. Shorter summary

Scott discusses how countersignaling in social interactions works only when one has already established social competence, using personal experiences and dating advice as examples. Longer summary

Scott reflects on his evolution in social interactions, from a terrified teenager to a confident adult who uses self-deprecating humor. He explains that this change is possible due to his improved social skills and self-confidence. Scott then relates this to the concept of countersignaling, particularly in dating advice. He argues that 'being yourself' is a form of countersignaling that works only when you've already established a certain level of social competence. The post concludes that advice appropriate for socially adept individuals might be detrimental for beginners, highlighting the complexity of social signaling. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander humorously explores the World Cup's complex rules, game theory in soccer, and unusual incentive structures in international tournaments. Longer summary

Scott Alexander humorously discusses the World Cup, focusing on its complex advancement rules and the strategic implications for teams. He explores the idea of the tournament as a primitive neural net, and ponders whether a large enough soccer tournament could achieve sentience. The post then delves into game theory, discussing the potential for teams to cooperate for mutual benefit in certain scenarios. It concludes with an anecdote about a 1994 Caribbean Cup game that had an extremely unusual incentive structure due to a peculiar rule. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander defends an economic principle often mocked in jokes, explaining its validity when applied to long-standing, seemingly obvious financial opportunities. Longer summary

Scott Alexander critiques a common joke about economists dismissing free money on the ground. He argues that the underlying economic principle, when phrased more realistically, is actually correct and useful. The post explains that while it's possible to find money just dropped, it's highly unlikely for a bill to remain unclaimed in a busy area for an extended period. This principle warns against seemingly easy, no-risk money-making opportunities that have been available for a while, suggesting they may be more complicated or risky than they appear. Shorter summary