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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Apr 08, 2015
ssc

No Clarity Around Growth Mindset

39 min • 5,344 words • 269 comments
Scott Alexander critically examines the concept of growth mindset, expressing skepticism despite compelling studies and discussing various issues with the theory and its interpretation. Longer summary
Scott Alexander examines the concept of growth mindset, expressing skepticism despite compelling studies. He discusses the history of growth mindset research, points out inconsistencies in longitudinal data, and questions the interpretation of experimental results. Scott also criticizes how some proponents use growth mindset to deny the importance of innate ability. While acknowledging the potential benefits of growth mindset, he remains uncertain about its real-world effects and long-term impact. Shorter summary
Jan 31, 2015
ssc

The Parable Of The Talents

45 min • 6,231 words • 791 comments • podcast (35 min)
Scott Alexander examines the concept of innate ability and argues for its acceptance, while cautioning against tying self-worth to intellectual achievement. Longer summary
Scott Alexander explores the concept of innate ability and its impact on self-worth, using personal anecdotes and philosophical arguments. He discusses how attributing success to hard work alone can be problematic, as it ignores inherent differences in aptitude. The post compares attitudes towards intelligence with those towards other traits like weight or poverty, noting a inconsistency in how society views these issues. Scott argues for accepting innate differences while still encouraging effort, and suggests that self-worth should not be tied to intellectual ability or achievement. Shorter summary