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!

See also Top Posts and All Tags.

Minutes:
Blog:
Year:
Show all filters
5 posts found
Apr 01, 2018
ssc
20 min 2,790 words 332 comments podcast (21 min)
Scott Alexander speculates on how concepts from decision theory and AI could lead to the emergence of a God-like entity across the multiverse, which judges and potentially rewards human behavior. Longer summary
Scott Alexander explores a speculative theory about the nature of God and morality, combining concepts from decision theory, AI safety, and multiverse theory. He proposes that superintelligences across different universes might engage in acausal trade and value handshakes, eventually forming a pact that results in a single superentity identical to the moral law. This entity would span all possible universes, care about mortal beings, and potentially reward or punish them based on their adherence to moral behavior. The post connects these ideas to traditional religious concepts of an all-powerful, all-knowing God who judges human actions. Shorter summary
May 29, 2015
ssc
35 min 4,770 words 682 comments
Scott argues for the importance of starting AI safety research now, presenting key problems and reasons why early work is crucial. Longer summary
This post argues for the importance of starting AI safety research now, rather than waiting until AI becomes more advanced. Scott presents five key points about AI development and potential risks, then discusses three specific problems in AI safety: wireheading, weird decision theory, and the evil genie effect. He explains why these problems are relevant and can be worked on now, addressing counterarguments about the usefulness of early research. The post concludes by presenting three reasons why we shouldn't delay AI safety work: the treacherous turn, hard takeoff scenarios, and ordinary time constraints given AI progress predictions. Shorter summary
May 10, 2014
ssc
14 min 1,834 words 154 comments
Scott Alexander examines the concept of infinite debts in personal and societal contexts, proposing a practical approach of paying manageable 'interest' rather than attempting full repayment. Longer summary
This post explores the concept of infinite debts and their implications in personal relationships and society. Scott starts with an anecdote about a patient wanting her son to take care of her, then extends this to societal obligations. He discusses the problems with both accepting infinite debts and denying them entirely. The post concludes by suggesting a practical middle ground: paying a manageable 'interest' on these debts without trying to clear them entirely. Scott uses examples like caring for elderly parents, societal obligations, and charitable giving to illustrate his points. Shorter summary
Mar 13, 2014
ssc
20 min 2,683 words 180 comments
Scott Alexander reflects on five years of Less Wrong, highlighting the community's intellectual progress in various areas of rationality and philosophy. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reflects on the fifth anniversary of Less Wrong, a rationalist community blog. He notes how many ideas that now seem obvious were once novel and exciting to the community. He covers several areas where Less Wrong has made progress, including understanding akrasia, decision theory, meta-contrarianism, trivial inconveniences, problems with scientific processes, effective altruism, and novel social norms. Scott concludes by expressing excitement about the intellectual progress the community has made, suggesting there's a path of development where insights that once seemed inscrutable become clear over time. Shorter summary
May 27, 2013
ssc
6 min 822 words 28 comments
Scott Alexander rewrites classic fairy tales to illustrate transhumanist and rationalist concepts, each ending with a moral lesson related to these philosophies. Longer summary
Scott Alexander presents a series of reimagined fairy tales with transhumanist and rationalist morals. Each story is a twist on a classic tale, concluding with a lesson related to concepts like exponential growth, decision theory, artificial intelligence risks, and self-modification. The stories are brief and satirical, using familiar narratives to illustrate complex ideas from rationalist and transhumanist thought. Shorter summary