The review analyzes Ernst Jünger's 'On the Marble Cliffs' as a beautifully written allegory of Nazi Germany that offers advice on surviving totalitarianism through appreciation of beauty. Longer summary

This review explores Ernst Jünger's 1939 novella 'On the Marble Cliffs', contextualizing it within the German Catastrophe and Jünger's life, analyzing its poetic style and allegorical content, and arguing that its primary purpose is to offer advice on surviving totalitarian rule through the appreciation of beauty. The reviewer discusses the book's historical context, Jünger's writing style, the challenges of translation, the plot's allegorical nature, and the often-missed central message about the power of beauty as a coping mechanism in the face of horror. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander explores various explanations for why some people don't respond to 'woo' practices, questioning whether non-responders are defective or if woo itself might be ineffective or even harmful. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses the concept of 'woo' (alternative wellness and spirituality practices) and explores different possibilities for why some people might not respond to these practices. He presents four possibilities: 1) Woo is universally great but harder for some people due to being 'dissociated from bodily experiences', 2) Different people process emotions differently and woo works better for some than others, 3) Woo treats a specific defect of storing emotions in the body, and 4) Woo correlates with a specific defect but doesn't actually help. Scott provides evidence and counterarguments for each possibility, drawing on psychological theories, cross-cultural observations, and personal anecdotes. He concludes by highlighting the difficulty in determining whether practices like woo are helpful coping mechanisms or potentially harmful risk factors for mentally unhealthy individuals. Shorter summary