In a fictional podcast dialogue, God and Iblis debate whether human intelligence shows genuine promise or is fundamentally flawed, with God defending humans despite their limitations while Iblis argues they're a failed experiment.

Scott explores the 'missing heritability' problem in genetics, where twin studies show traits like IQ and educational attainment are highly heritable but newer genomic methods find much lower heritability, analyzing various potential explanations for this discrepancy.

Scott investigates the correlation between intelligence and neuron count, exploring various theories before suggesting that more neurons allow for less polysemantic (overlapping) representations of concepts.

Scott responds to comments about Lynn's IQ data, addressing how IQ testing might break down in under-educated populations and how this relates to the apparent disconnect between test scores and real-world capabilities.

Scott Alexander examines how AI achievements, once considered markers of true intelligence or danger, are often dismissed as unimpressive, potentially leading to concerning AI behaviors being normalized.

Scott Alexander argues that intelligence is a useful, non-Platonic concept, and that this understanding supports the coherence of AI risk concerns.

Scott Alexander analyzes a study showing Concerta improves ADHD children's attention but not their learning, and speculates on the reasons behind this unexpected result.

Scott Alexander examines a genetic study distinguishing cognitive and non-cognitive skills in educational attainment, revealing unexpected correlations with mental health conditions.

Scott Alexander reviews 'The Cult of Smart' by Freddie DeBoer, praising its main arguments while criticizing several aspects, particularly DeBoer's stance on education reform.

Scott Alexander examines the paradoxical relationship between autism and intelligence, discussing genetic and environmental factors, and proposing explanatory models for the observed lower IQ in autistic individuals despite genetic links to higher intelligence.

Scott Alexander finds a correlation between animals' cortical neuron count and people's intuitive perception of their moral value, based on a small survey.

Scott Alexander uses the evolution of genetic science as a metaphor to explore how other fields might benefit from recognizing the polycausal nature of complex phenomena.

Scott Alexander explores theories to reconcile contradictory views on AI progress rates, considering the implications for AI development timelines and intelligence scaling.

Scott Alexander refutes PZ Myers' race car analogy against genetic engineering for intelligence, showing that high IQ positively correlates with many beneficial traits.

Scott Alexander refutes claims that existing collective entities are superintelligent AIs, emphasizing the fundamental differences between collective intelligence and true superintelligence.

Scott Alexander critically examines the concept of growth mindset, expressing skepticism despite compelling studies and discussing various issues with the theory and its interpretation.

Scott Alexander uses NBA player heights as an analogy to discuss intelligence and IQ, advocating for a balanced view that acknowledges both innate talent and effort.

Scott Alexander examines the concept of innate ability and argues for its acceptance, while cautioning against tying self-worth to intellectual achievement.

Scott Alexander defends the validity of intelligence and IQ tests by comparing them to comas and the Glasgow Coma Scale in medicine.

Scott shares a diverse collection of interesting links and brief commentary on topics ranging from unusual video games to genetic research and political oddities.

Scott Alexander discusses his confusion about polygenic inheritance, mutational load, and the paternal age effect in genetics, seeking explanations from readers.

Scott Alexander compares reactions to coming out as gay versus disliking math, introducing the concept of a 'Things To Be Fascinated About Lottery' to explain diverse interests and talents.