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
3 posts found
Jun 02, 2015
ssc
49 min 6,737 words 600 comments
A fictional story explores the consequences of seven people gaining superpowers from colored pills, leading to an attempt to read God's mind and ultimately a way to restart the universe. Longer summary
This post is a fictional story about seven people who take different colored pills that give them unique superpowers. The story follows each character's experiences with their new abilities, ranging from mind-reading to super-strength. It then brings the characters together in a plot to read God's mind using the Shroud of Turin, which leads to unexpected consequences. The story concludes with a far-future scenario where one character's superpower is used to restart the universe cycle. Shorter summary
Oct 12, 2014
ssc
9 min 1,160 words 88 comments
Scott Alexander describes five fictional planets, each with a unique societal quirk that explores different sci-fi concepts and social commentary. Longer summary
Scott Alexander presents five fictional planets with unique societal quirks, each exploring a different sci-fi concept. Gamma Andromeda has inhabitants who artificially balance their emotions, Zyzzx Prime's leaders lose intelligence upon gaining power, K'th'ranga V maintains a complex theocracy spanning different technological ages, Chan X-3's species focuses solely on gene preservation, and New Capricorn has achieved immortality but not halted aging. Each planet illustrates a thought-provoking scenario that combines elements of science fiction with social commentary and philosophical musings. Shorter summary
Jun 20, 2014
ssc
13 min 1,803 words 108 comments
Scott proposes adapting DW-Nominate, a political spectrum analysis tool, to study morality through real-life decisions, exploring its potential implications and limitations. Longer summary
Scott proposes using a method similar to DW-Nominate, a tool used to calculate politicians' positions on the political spectrum, to investigate morality. He suggests applying this method to real-life moral decisions people make, from major choices to everyday actions. The post explores how this could potentially group people into 'good' and 'bad' categories, identify the most moral actions, and possibly provide insights into contentious moral issues. Scott also discusses how this method might work in morally inverted societies like Nazi Germany, presenting three hypothetical outcomes and their implications for understanding morality objectively. Shorter summary