So, where to start reading Scott Alexander? Most of Scott's writing comes from two blogs, the late Slate Star Codex (SSC) started in 2013, and its replacement since 2021, Astral Codex Ten (ACX). He also wrote and cross-posted on the rationalist forum LessWrong.
Unfortunately, there are currently no curated list of Top Posts for ACX and I don't have the first party data to create one myself (I don't have the historic view count). If you want to explore it yourself you can go to the homepage and play with filters and sorting to find the most active posts, or check out the Tags page.
Scott Alexander cautions against basing opinions on limited research, using examples from medicine and economics to show how cherry-picking studies can lead to opposing conclusions.
Scott Alexander analyzes Moloch as a metaphor for destructive societal coordination problems, using various examples to show how competing incentives can lead to negative outcomes.
Scott Alexander examines political tribalism in America, arguing that people often claim tolerance while harboring strong prejudices against their outgroups.
Scott reviews 'Albion's Seed' by David Fischer, exploring how four British cultural groups that settled colonial America shaped regional cultures and may still influence modern US political divisions.
Scott Alexander argues that donating 10% of income to effective charities is a more impactful way to do good than political activism, and recommends joining Giving What We Can.
Scott Alexander critiques a meta-analysis supporting psychic phenomena to illustrate flaws in scientific methodology and meta-analysis.
Scott Alexander examines the phenomenon of cost disease, where costs for basic services like education and healthcare have increased dramatically without corresponding improvements in quality or wages.
Scott Alexander proposes 'Archipelago', a society of voluntary communities, as a potential solution to issues in modern politics and social organization.
Scott Alexander discusses how categories are human constructs that should be flexible when it serves a useful purpose, using examples from biology, astronomy, and transgender identity.
Scott Alexander provides a stark, critical look at end-of-life care in hospitals, challenging idealized notions of death and the concept of 'cultivating a culture of life'.
A fictional DMT trip where the narrator tries to prove the reality of entities by asking them to factor a number, but receives cryptic responses about love and joy instead.