Scott Alexander argues for the broader use of guidelines instead of simple recommendations in fields outside medicine, explaining their benefits and why they're underutilized. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses the value of guidelines over simple recommendations, using medical guidelines as an example. He argues that guidelines are underappreciated in many fields outside medicine. Guidelines offer multiple recommendations, tailor advice to specific circumstances, acknowledge individual differences, provide criteria for success or failure, and show correlations between options. Scott suggests that experts in fields like nutrition and self-help should create similar guidelines, but notes that doing so might be seen as too strong a claim to authority. He expresses frustration at the lack of such guidelines in areas like dieting, nootropics, and self-help, where they could be particularly useful. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander shares intriguing excerpts from 'Willpower', a book on self-control, while cautioning readers about the claims' reliability and expressing skepticism about some assertions. Longer summary

This post is a collection of highlighted passages from the book 'Willpower' that the author found surprising or counterintuitive. The excerpts cover various topics related to self-control, including the Zeigarnik effect, writing habits, religious influence on self-discipline, cultural differences in self-control, dieting challenges, and ego depletion. Scott Alexander emphasizes that he has not fact-checked these claims and expresses skepticism about some of the book's assertions. He also provides occasional commentary on certain passages, relating them to his own experiences or other sources. Shorter summary