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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Oct 26, 2014
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Alcoholics Anonymous: Much More Than You Wanted To Know

42 min • 5,839 words • 175 comments
Scott Alexander examines the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous, finding it and other treatments only marginally better than no treatment, based on flawed and inconclusive studies. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reviews the evidence on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) effectiveness, finding most studies to be flawed or inconclusive. He notes that AA seems to work about as well as other treatments, but only slightly better than no treatment at all. The post explores various studies, their methodologies, and their limitations, ultimately concluding that while AA and other treatments may help, their effects are small and often indistinguishable from each other or from brief interventions by doctors. Shorter summary
Sep 17, 2014
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Joint Over- and Underdiagnosis

5 min • 600 words • 172 comments
Scott Alexander explains how psychiatric conditions like ADHD can be both over- and underdiagnosed simultaneously, due to statistical quirks in diagnosis and population prevalence. Longer summary
Scott Alexander discusses the counterintuitive phenomenon of simultaneous over- and underdiagnosis in psychiatry, using ADHD as an example. He explains how, even with a highly accurate psychiatrist, it's possible for the majority of people diagnosed with a condition to not have it, while the majority of people who actually have the condition remain undiagnosed. This is due to the interplay between disease prevalence, self-selection for evaluation, and the inherent limitations of diagnostic accuracy. The post demonstrates this concept using a hypothetical scenario with ADHD, and then suggests that this phenomenon likely applies to other conditions such as depression and pain medication prescriptions. Shorter summary
Aug 29, 2013
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Fake Euthanasia Statistics

30 min • 4,184 words • 56 comments
Scott Alexander debunks misleading statistics about euthanasia in the Netherlands, showing claims of widespread non-consensual euthanasia are false and not supported by careful analysis of the data. Longer summary
Scott Alexander debunks misleading statistics about euthanasia in the Netherlands. He analyzes the original Remmelink Report and more recent studies to show that claims of widespread non-consensual euthanasia are false. The post explains how opponents misinterpret data, conflating end-of-life care practices with euthanasia. It presents evidence that legalization of euthanasia in the Netherlands did not lead to a 'slippery slope' or disproportionate impacts on vulnerable groups. The post concludes that responsible research shows euthanasia in the Netherlands is applied consensually and in accordance with guidelines, with no evidence of misapplication. Shorter summary