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2 posts found
Feb 27, 2023
acx
25 min 3,373 words 296 comments 101 likes podcast (19 min)
Scott Alexander discusses reader comments on his 'Geography of Madness' review, revising views on culture-bound syndromes and exploring various mental health topics. Longer summary
This post discusses various comments on Scott Alexander's review of 'The Geography of Madness'. It covers topics like culture-bound syndromes, the prevalence of brief psychotic disorder, the history of school shootings, the universality of PTSD, the rise of transgender identities, and the correlation between believing in ghosts and experiencing PMS. Scott revises some of his previous views, becoming more skeptical about many traditional culture-bound syndromes and acknowledging the complexity of cultural influences on mental health conditions. Shorter summary
Oct 02, 2014
ssc
9 min 1,218 words 148 comments
Scott Alexander examines violent children's songs from the past to discuss changing societal norms and the reliability of social science versus conventional wisdom. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reflects on children's songs from past generations that featured violent themes about harming teachers and burning schools. He contrasts these with modern concerns about violent media influencing children. The post explores how these songs were once common and accepted, despite actual school shootings occurring. Scott uses this to discuss the reliability of social science, conventional wisdom, and how our perception of what's 'normal' can change over time. He argues that today's common sense often originates from yesterday's pop social science, making it difficult to recognize its origins. Shorter summary