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status signaling (5)
study critique (270)
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study critique (270)
book review (221)
AI (112)
economics (105)
effective altruism (105)
education (93)
creative writing (89)
forecasting (89)
politics (89)
prediction markets (88)
debate (87)
science (85)
AI safety (78)
media criticism (76)
neuroscience (75)
psychiatry (73)
psychology (72)
rationality (71)
mental health (69)
highlights from the comments (68)
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domain: slatestarcodex.com (1125 posts)
domain: wikipedia.org (856 posts)
domain: astralcodexten.com (559 posts)
domain: twitter.com / x.com (444 posts)
domain: lesswrong.com (397 posts)
domain: nih.gov (328 posts)
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Nonmindkilling open questions

Scott asks readers for examples of popular, important, factual questions with high uncertainty and no clear 'responsible' position, to use when teaching probabilistic thinking, noting that his previous examples like global warming have become too polarized.

lw
Mar 23, 2012 363 words 32 likes 113 comments Read Read

A signaling theory of class x politics interaction

Scott proposes that class-based attitudes toward wealth redistribution are driven by status signaling rather than "last place aversion," where lower middle class people oppose redistribution to differentiate themselves from the poor, while upper middle class people support it to differentiate themselves from the lower middle class.

lw
Oct 17, 2011 987 words 94 likes 61 comments Read Read

Intellectual Hipsters and Meta-Contrarianism

Scott introduces the concept of "meta-contrarianism" - where highly intelligent people signal their status by rejecting contrarian positions and returning to simpler views, similar to how hipsters adopt uncool styles to seem cooler.

lw
Sep 13, 2010 2,358 words 404 likes 367 comments Read Read

Why Real Men Wear Pink

Scott explains Bell's theory that fashion functions as status signaling, where the upper class deliberately adopts outrageous or lower-class styles that the middle class wouldn't dare wear, creating fashion cycles and explaining phenomena like men wearing pink or the 'ghetto look.'

lw
Aug 6, 2009 1,051 words 110 likes 155 comments Read Read

Why Support the Underdog?

Scott examines the universal human bias toward supporting underdogs, presents evidence it significantly influences opinions, and asks why evolution would favor such an apparently irrational strategy.

lw
Apr 5, 2009 781 words 45 likes 102 comments Read Read
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