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optical illusions (12)
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study critique (270)
book review (221)
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economics (105)
effective altruism (105)
education (93)
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forecasting (89)
politics (89)
prediction markets (88)
science (85)
AI safety (79)
media criticism (76)
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rationality (76)
psychiatry (73)
psychology (72)
mental health (69)
highlights from the comments (68)
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12 posts
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Waiting For The Miracle

Scott travels to Medjugorje, Bosnia to investigate reports of sun miracles, witnesses one himself with his wife, and develops a naturalistic explanation involving afterimages and atmospheric conditions that explains both the Medjugorje and Fatima phenomena.

acx
Jun 18, 2026 13,141 words 562 likes 354 comments Listen · 72 min Read Read

Highlights From The Comments On Fatima

Scott explores reader responses to his Fatima miracle post, finding the most promising explanation in Buddhist fire kasina meditation practices that produce similar visual phenomena, while remaining uncertain about how 70,000 untrained people could achieve advanced meditative states instantly.

acx
Oct 24, 2025 22,516 words 160 likes 366 comments Listen · 119 min Read Read

The Fatima Sun Miracle: Much More Than You Wanted To Know

A detailed investigation of the Sun Miracle of Fatima in 1917, where 70,000 people witnessed the sun appear to spin, change colors, and fall to earth, analyzing witness testimonies, skeptical explanations, and similar phenomena at other Marian apparition sites.

acx
Oct 1, 2025 32,949 words 694 likes 753 comments Listen · 186 min Read Read

Practically-A-Book Review: Byrnes on Trance

Scott reviews Steven Byrnes' work explaining how our perception of self and consciousness can flip between different models, similar to optical illusions, which explains phenomena like trance, hypnosis, and spiritual experiences.

acx
Jul 9, 2025 4,189 words 260 likes 395 comments Listen · 25 min Read Read

Here's Why Automaticity Is Real Actually

Scott Alexander defends the concept of automaticity in psychology, arguing that core cognitive biases and priming effects are real, while acknowledging some claims have been overstated.

acx
Aug 31, 2023 3,462 words 285 likes 706 comments Listen · 21 min Read Read

Can People Be Honestly Wrong About Their Own Experiences?

Scott Alexander explores whether people can be honestly mistaken about their own experiences, presenting counterexamples and attempting to reconcile them with the idea that we can't be wrong about our immediate subjective experiences.

acx
Nov 10, 2022 1,886 words 132 likes 340 comments Listen · 13 min Read Read

SSC Survey: Scattered Negative Results

Scott Alexander reports on weak correlations and inconclusive results from the latest SSC survey on optical illusions and visual perception.

ssc
Aug 15, 2018 1,180 words 0 likes 38 comments Listen · 11 min Read Read

Preregistration Of Hypotheses For The SSC Survey

Scott Alexander preregisters hypotheses for the 2018 SSC Survey, planning to explore relationships between perception, cognition, personality, and demographics.

ssc
Dec 25, 2017 1,690 words 0 likes 191 comments Listen · 14 min Read Read

Can We Link Perception And Cognition?

Scott Alexander explores potential links between perception of optical illusions and cognitive styles, proposing further research to investigate these connections.

ssc
Jul 14, 2017 945 words 0 likes 108 comments Read Read

Why Are Transgender People Immune To Optical Illusions?

Scott Alexander hypothesizes a link between transgender identity, optical illusions, and NMDA receptor function, based on survey data and existing research on schizophrenia and autism.

ssc
Jun 28, 2017 3,120 words 0 likes 356 comments Read Read

Ley Lines Of The Midwest

The post examines Midwestern geography, debunking the author's initial impression of a grid pattern in town arrangements and humorously exploring potential 'ley lines' between cities.

ssc
Nov 16, 2014 501 words 0 likes 62 comments Read Read

Blue- and Yellow-Tinted Choices

Scott explains how the brain judges values relatively rather than absolutely, using optical illusions as an analogy for cognitive biases in decision-making.

lw
May 13, 2010 1,359 words 77 likes 57 comments Read Read
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