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altruism (8)
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study critique (270)
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8 posts
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Against The Concept Of Telescopic Altruism

Scott argues against the concept of "telescopic altruism" - the claim that liberals care more about distant strangers than nearby people - showing that people who care about faraway causes also care about nearby ones, and that compassion is generally correlated across all distances rather than inversely related.

acx
Mar 31, 2026 1,562 words 463 likes 610 comments Listen · 11 min Read Read

Everyone's A Based Post-Christian Vitalist Until The Grooming Gangs Show Up

Scott critiques self-proclaimed moral nihilists who claim to not care about strangers' suffering, by pointing out their passionate response to the British grooming gangs scandal reveals they actually do care.

acx
Jan 23, 2025 1,625 words 625 likes 836 comments Listen · 10 min Read Read

Altruism And Vitalism As Fellow Travelers

Scott Alexander argues that altruism and vitalism mostly align in practice, and that focusing on their theoretical divergences often stems from signaling rather than genuine pursuit of societal improvement.

acx
Aug 6, 2024 3,759 words 183 likes 608 comments Listen · 22 min Read Read

Verses On Five People Being Killed By A Falling Package Of Foreign Aid

Scott Alexander's poem, inspired by a tragic aid airdrop incident in Gaza, explores the challenges and unintended consequences of altruism through various philosophical lenses.

acx
Mar 14, 2024 467 words 448 likes 293 comments Listen · 4 min Read Read

Highlights From The Comments On Kidney Donation

Scott Alexander summarizes and responds to various comments on his kidney donation post, covering a wide range of related topics and perspectives.

acx
Nov 7, 2023 10,818 words 109 likes 555 comments Listen · 56 min Read Read

My Left Kidney

Scott Alexander recounts his experience donating a kidney, from initial motivation to post-surgery recovery, while discussing the broader context of organ donation.

acx
Oct 27, 2023 7,380 words 587 likes 910 comments Listen · 39 min Read Read

Does Class Warfare Have A Free-Rider Problem?

Scott examines why the rich appear to influence politics despite theoretical barriers, proposing that moral philosophies may emerge to solve wealthy coordination problems.

ssc
Sep 14, 2014 1,197 words 0 likes 297 comments Read Read

Interlude for Behavioral Economics

Scott examines experimental data on how people actually behave in Prisoner's Dilemma and Ultimatum Game situations, finding that people use various heuristics like tit-for-tat and fairness considerations rather than purely rational strategies.

lw
Jul 6, 2012 1,742 words 93 likes 52 comments Read Read
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