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 27, 2014
ssc
9 min 1,144 words 458 comments
Scott Alexander explores the challenges of utilitarianism when confronted with hidden or distant suffering, using examples like nursing homes and prisons to illustrate the ethical dilemma. Longer summary
This post discusses the ethical dilemma of utilitarianism when faced with 'bottomless pits of suffering' - situations where helping others would require significant sacrifices from those who are currently comfortable. Scott uses examples like medieval church spending, nursing homes, and prisons to illustrate how easy it is to ignore suffering that isn't immediately visible. He then relates this to philosophical problems in utilitarianism, such as utility monsters and Pascal's Wager. The post concludes by noting the difficulty in finding ethical frameworks that address these issues without completely ignoring hidden suffering. Shorter summary
Jun 23, 2014
ssc
12 min 1,571 words 123 comments
The post critiques the medical malpractice legal system through a neurologist's account of a lawsuit, highlighting flaws in court procedures and expert testimony. Longer summary
This post discusses the flaws in the medical malpractice legal system, based on a neurologist's account of a case where he was sued for not giving heparin to a stroke patient. The story highlights issues such as judges disallowing scientific evidence, expert witnesses giving false testimony, and lawyers engaging in questionable practices. The author uses this to reflect on broader issues in the court system and draws parallels to the lack of public concern about prison conditions, suggesting that people don't care about improving these systems because they don't expect to be personally affected. Shorter summary