A review of 'The Family That Couldn't Sleep' by D. T. Max, discussing its exploration of prion diseases and their impact, with updated perspectives on the book's conclusions. Longer summary

This review discusses 'The Family That Couldn't Sleep' by D. T. Max, a book about prion diseases published in 2006. The review covers the book's exploration of various prion diseases, including fatal familial insomnia, kuru, mad cow disease, and chronic wasting disease. It highlights the book's focus on the historical, scientific, and cultural aspects of these diseases, as well as the key figures involved in prion research. The reviewer also provides updated information and critiques some of the book's conclusions in light of more recent research. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander reviews 'Don't Look Up', critiquing its contradictory narratives about trusting science and experts vs. outsiders. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews the movie 'Don't Look Up', focusing on its political implications rather than its message about existential risk. He summarizes the plot, then critiques the film's self-contradictory narratives about trusting experts vs. trusting outsiders. Scott argues that the movie unintentionally encourages conspiracy thinking while trying to promote 'trusting science'. He explains how people often hold contradictory political narratives, deploying whichever is convenient. The review concludes that the film succeeds in conveying emotions around existential risk debates but fails to coherently follow through on its intended message. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander reviews his intellectual progress in the 2010s across various fields, crediting his blog for accelerating learning. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reflects on the intellectual progress he made in the 2010s, largely tracked through his blog posts. He discusses major updates in his understanding of topics like predictive coding theory, psychedelics, mental health, SSRIs, genetics, willpower, nutrition, x-risk, AI, scientific progress, cost disease, the replication crisis, placebo effect, ethics, politics, cultural evolution, social justice, game theory, and enlightenment. He notes that while some were major shifts in position, many represent 'deconfusion' - gaining a better map of the problem space. Scott credits his blog and reader interactions for accelerating his learning in the latter half of the decade. Shorter summary

Scott shares a diverse collection of links and brief commentaries on scientific studies, political news, cultural phenomena, and personal observations across various fields. Longer summary

This post is a collection of links and brief commentaries on various topics, including scientific studies, political news, and cultural phenomena. Scott covers a wide range of subjects, from the effects of ultraviolet radiation on weight gain to the decline of cults, global inequality trends, genetic links to violent crime, and the concept of competitive governance. He also discusses recent political events, media controversies, and developments in artificial intelligence research. The post includes personal observations, book recommendations, and reflections on social dynamics within online communities. Shorter summary

Scott shares a diverse collection of interesting links and brief commentary on topics including linguistics, science, economics, and social issues. Longer summary

This post is a collection of interesting links and brief commentary on various topics. Scott covers subjects ranging from linguistics and philosophy to scientific discoveries and social issues. He discusses recent research on evolution, cold fusion claims, autism theories, and dark matter detection. The post also touches on economic topics like immigration effects and living costs in major cities. Scott includes some humorous content and critiques of social policies in countries like Saudi Arabia. The tone is informative and slightly humorous, with Scott offering brief personal opinions on some of the topics discussed. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting links with brief commentaries, covering topics from education and politics to science and technology. Longer summary

This post is a collection of interesting links and brief commentaries on various topics. Scott Alexander covers a wide range of subjects, including education, politics, technology, history, and science. He discusses SAT coaching effectiveness, college admissions critiques, a new Civilization game, unusual government policies, teacher observations on student behavior changes, and scientific studies on schizophrenia and lithium. The post also includes humorous anecdotes and thought-provoking historical what-ifs. Scott's commentary often adds an insightful or ironic perspective to the linked content. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting news items and links from July 2014, covering topics from philosophy and politics to science and pop culture. Longer summary

This post is a collection of interesting links and news items from July 2014. Scott covers a wide range of topics, including a plagiarism scandal involving Slavoj Zizek, a man claiming unclaimed African land for his daughter, artificial language generation, diet research, a Tumblr convention, online drug trade, religious preferences in America, and various other cultural, scientific, and political items. The post has a light, sometimes humorous tone, and often includes Scott's personal commentary on the news items. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting links and brief commentaries on topics ranging from pollution solutions to genetic discoveries and cultural differences. Longer summary

Scott Alexander shares various interesting links and brief commentaries on diverse topics. These include an Effective Altruism survey, innovative solutions to pollution, a unique thundercloud, eating habits of liberals and conservatives, a critique of cyberbullying, police body cameras, genetic discoveries related to intelligence, polio outbreaks, race and drug testing in hiring, cultural differences based on agriculture, China's economic future, and circular farms seen from airplanes. The post is a collection of brief, often unrelated observations and references to articles Scott found intriguing. Shorter summary

Scott shares and comments on a diverse collection of news items and interesting links from March 2014, covering topics from medical advances to political issues and quirky stories. Longer summary

This post is a collection of various links and news items from March 2014. Scott covers a range of topics including medical advances, political issues, social science research, and quirky news stories. He comments on each item, often with a skeptical or humorous tone. The post touches on subjects like fecal transplants, charity effectiveness, SAT preparation myths, prediction markets, and genetic research. Scott also discusses some sociological theories and shares interesting statistics and studies. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of interesting links on topics ranging from meditation to global poverty, offering brief summaries and personal commentary. Longer summary

This post is a collection of links to interesting articles and studies on various topics. It covers a wide range of subjects including meditation, Olympic medal psychology, religious beliefs, education systems, diet trends, scientific reproducibility, historical events, and global poverty solutions. Scott Alexander briefly summarizes each link, often adding his own commentary or skepticism. The tone is informative and slightly humorous, with Scott occasionally expressing personal opinions or anecdotes related to the topics. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander shares a diverse collection of interesting links and brief commentary on topics ranging from historical anecdotes to recent technological and scientific developments. Longer summary

This post is a collection of interesting links and brief commentary on various topics. It covers historical anecdotes, technological developments, scientific discoveries, social issues, and quirky facts. Scott Alexander discusses topics such as Amazon's drone delivery announcement, promising medical technologies, cancer research, personality disorders, polyamory, and unusual state facts. The post has a lighthearted tone and includes a mix of serious analysis and humorous observations. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander defends 'scientism', arguing that scientific thinking provides valuable tools for addressing non-scientific questions and avoiding common cognitive biases. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the concept of 'scientism', often considered a fallacy where people naively believe science can solve everything. He argues that while science may not directly solve philosophical questions, the scientific method and thinking can be valuable in non-scientific fields. He explains that scientists have learned to calibrate their thinking against hard reality, leading to a more skeptical and minimalist approach in other areas. The post discusses how scientific thinking helps avoid common cognitive biases and provides a better framework for evaluating claims in non-scientific fields. Scott concludes by 'reclaiming' the term scientism, defining it as a view of hypothesis-space that accounts for human fallibilities and maintains a high burden of proof. Shorter summary