How to explore Scott Alexander's work and his 1500+ blog posts? This unaffiliated fan website lets you sort and search through the whole codex. Enjoy!

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May 29, 2024
acx

Links for May 2024

42 min • 5,785 words • 1,045 comments • 125 likes • podcast (37 min)
A wide-ranging collection of 40 news items and interesting facts, covering AI, politics, science, economics, and culture, with the author's commentary. Longer summary
This post is a collection of 40 diverse links and news items covering topics such as AI developments, politics, science, technology, economics, and culture. It includes updates on OpenAI and Google's AI projects, discussions on religious phenomena, analyses of social and economic trends, and various interesting facts and anecdotes. The author provides commentary and context for many of the items, often with a mix of humor and critical analysis. Shorter summary
Jun 28, 2023
acx

Every Flashing Element On Your Site Alienates And Enrages Users

8 min • 1,003 words • 369 comments • 274 likes • podcast (7 min)
Scott Alexander criticizes websites using flashing or changing elements, arguing they significantly worsen user experience despite being widely disliked. Longer summary
Scott Alexander criticizes websites that use flashing or changing elements in their user interfaces, arguing that these elements are annoying and detrimental to user experience. He provides examples from various websites, including a Jewish law site, Substack, AdBlock, Bing, and Gmail. Scott cites survey results showing that 88% of users find such elements at least a little annoying, with 16% saying they wouldn't use a website that has them. He expresses frustration that companies continue to implement these features despite user complaints and suggests that it negatively impacts his use of these services. The post concludes with a plea to interface designers to reconsider the use of such elements. Shorter summary
Dec 20, 2021
acx

Mantic Monday: Let Me Google That For You

19 min • 2,525 words • 125 comments • 41 likes • podcast (23 min)
Scott Alexander reviews recent developments in prediction markets, including Google's internal market and Metaculus' 'fortified essays', while discussing challenges and applications in various fields. Longer summary
Scott Alexander discusses recent developments in prediction markets, including Google's internal prediction market Gleangen, challenges in long-term predictions, conditional markets for policy decisions, and new weight loss drugs. He also covers Metaculus' 'fortified essays' concept, which combines expert analysis with crowd forecasts, and shares recent predictions on topics like COVID-19 hospitalizations and SAT requirements in college admissions. Shorter summary
Jan 20, 2016
ssc

Side Effects May Include Anything

8 min • 1,072 words • 286 comments
Scott Alexander criticizes websites that misleadingly suggest drug side effects by scraping FDA data, potentially causing patients to stop taking necessary medications. Longer summary
Scott Alexander criticizes websites like EHealthMe that automatically generate pages suggesting connections between drugs and side effects based on FDA data scraping. He argues these sites are misleading and potentially harmful, as they can cause patients to stop taking necessary medications due to unfounded fears of side effects. The post begins with a personal anecdote about a patient concerned about Xolair causing depression, then delves into how these websites operate and why their information is unreliable. Scott emphasizes the scummy nature of these practices and their potential to harm vulnerable individuals, concluding with a stark example of how such misinformation could lead to tragedy. Shorter summary
Apr 04, 2013
ssc

Lies, Damned Lies, And Facebook (Part 2 of ∞)

9 min • 1,124 words • 32 comments
Scott Alexander debunks a misleading Facebook meme about Google autocomplete suggestions for disabled people, showing that Google's suggestions are universally negative for almost all groups. Longer summary
Scott Alexander critiques a viral Facebook meme about Google autocomplete suggestions for 'disabled people should...', finding it misleading. He demonstrates that Google's autocomplete suggestions are universally negative for almost all demographic groups, not just disabled people. Scott shows how many of the search results are actually denouncing the negative statements, not supporting them. He explores Google's autocomplete suggestions for various groups, finding they often suggest death or extermination, regardless of the group. The post ends with a humorous note about Google's 'Don't Be Evil' motto contrasting with these misanthropic autocomplete results. Shorter summary