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!

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2 posts found
Sep 10, 2024
acx
19 min 2,556 words 435 comments 205 likes podcast (15 min)
Scott Alexander refutes Freddie deBoer's argument against expecting major events in our lifetimes, presenting a more nuanced approach to estimating such probabilities. Longer summary
Scott Alexander responds to Freddie deBoer's argument against expecting significant events like a singularity or apocalypse in our lifetimes. Alexander critiques deBoer's 'temporal Copernican principle,' arguing that it fails basic sanity checks and misunderstands anthropic reasoning. He presents a more nuanced approach to estimating probabilities of major events, considering factors like technological progress and population distribution. Alexander concludes that while prior probabilities for significant events in one's lifetime are not negligible, they should be updated based on observations and common sense. Shorter summary
Sep 03, 2024
acx
18 min 2,459 words 318 comments 525 likes podcast (15 min)
Scott Alexander presents a series of satirical job interviews at Thiel Capital, where candidates share increasingly absurd unpopular beliefs, highlighting the nature of conspiracy theories and contrarian thinking. Longer summary
This post is a satirical piece featuring a series of fictional job interviews at Thiel Capital. Each interview involves asking candidates to share an unpopular belief they hold. The responses range from absurd conspiracy theories to unconventional interpretations of historical events and scientific concepts. The interviewers' reactions highlight the absurdity of the candidates' beliefs, while also poking fun at the idea of 'based' or controversial opinions in tech and finance circles. The piece uses humor to explore themes of conspiracy theories, contrarian thinking, and the nature of unconventional beliefs. Shorter summary