Scott examines the concept of 'priesthoods' (like medicine and academia) as epistemic communities that maintain high standards through isolation from the public, showing both their strengths and their vulnerability to ideological capture. Longer summary

Scott analyzes how professional 'priesthoods' like medicine and academia function as epistemic communities, maintaining their effectiveness through deliberate isolation from the public and strict internal standards. He explains how their key features - separation from the public, resistance to capitalism, and formal communication norms - help them maintain quality but also make them vulnerable to ideological capture. The post explores how these institutions were particularly susceptible to political capture in recent years, while arguing that despite their flaws, they still serve an important function that would be difficult to replicate. The discussion concludes by questioning how to deal with priesthoods' current state of partial corruption. Shorter summary

Scott reviews Tom Wolfe's 'From Bauhaus To Our House', which explains how modernist architecture took over American buildings despite being widely disliked, through a combination of European influence, academic capture, and institutional pressures. Longer summary

The book explores how modern architecture, originating from socialist artistic movements in Europe, conquered American architecture despite being unpopular with the public. After fleeing Nazi Germany, modernist architects were given prestigious positions in American universities, where they quickly eliminated traditional architectural teaching. Though most people disliked the new style, institutional pressures and loss of traditional crafting expertise made it dominant. The book follows the movement's evolution through various schools and styles, all maintaining the core modernist principles while fighting amongst themselves about subtle theoretical differences. Scott praises Wolfe's uncompromising criticism but notes he would have appreciated more explanation of what the architects thought they were achieving. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines how investigative journalism can target unpopular individuals or groups, using recent examples to illustrate the potential chilling effects and biases in media coverage. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses how investigative journalism can be used as a weapon against individuals or groups who become unpopular or controversial. He cites three examples: the plagiarism accusations against Claudine Gay, the investigation into Neri Oxman, and the negative coverage of effective altruism after the FTX scandal. Scott argues that journalists tend to dig up old scandals or minor misdeeds when a person or group becomes unpopular, creating a chilling effect. He contrasts this with his ideal of journalism comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Scott also relates this to his personal experience with negative media coverage and concludes by connecting this phenomenon to his previous article on not learning too much from dramatic events. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander summarizes reader comments on his post about the academic job market, covering topics like hiring practices, historical context, and comparisons to other industries. Longer summary

Scott Alexander summarizes reader comments on his previous post about the academic job market. The comments provide additional information on academic hiring practices, historical context for the current state of academia, and comparisons to other job markets like programming and publishing. Many commenters offer practical advice for new PhDs, with a common theme being the importance of research and publications over other activities. The post also includes proposed solutions to academia's issues and numerous warnings about the difficulties of pursuing an academic career. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander reviews Nassim Taleb's 'Antifragile', which explores the concept of benefiting from disorder across various domains and critiques modern attempts to reduce volatility. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews Nassim Taleb's book 'Antifragile', which introduces the concept of antifragility - things that gain from disorder and volatility. The book explores this concept through various domains including finance, evolution, exercise, and government policy. Taleb argues that many modern systems and approaches, in trying to reduce volatility, actually increase fragility to large shocks. The review discusses Taleb's critique of academia, his preference for practical knowledge over theory, and his views on the benefits of smaller, decentralized systems. Scott compares Taleb's ideas to other thinkers like James Scott and David Chapman, seeing 'Antifragile' as part of a broader intellectual counterculture questioning conventional approaches to knowledge and governance. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander critiques an article on conservative 'tribal epistemology', arguing that liberal bias in supposedly neutral institutions has driven conservatives to create their own spaces, exacerbating polarization. Longer summary

Scott Alexander critiques David Roberts' article on the rise of 'tribal epistemology' among US conservatives. While agreeing with some points, Scott argues that Roberts underestimates conservative grievances against supposedly neutral institutions. He illustrates how these institutions, including academia and media, often display liberal bias while claiming neutrality. Scott explains that conservatives' exodus to their own spaces is a reaction to this bias, resulting in echo chambers on both sides. He suggests that this pattern repeats across various domains, from workplaces to scientific conferences. The post concludes by advocating for a different approach, implying that the current liberal bias in 'neutral' spaces is counterproductive and exacerbates polarization. Shorter summary

A wide-ranging links post covering recent research, political developments, and interesting findings across various fields, with particular focus on psychology research, political polling, and academic developments. Longer summary

An extensive roundup of links covering various topics in science, politics, and culture. Scott covers recent research on discrimination and peer effects, discusses political developments like Brexit polling and DNC chair elections, highlights interesting academic papers on personality and therapy, and shares various curiosities like tracking a child's first words. The post also covers developments in AI, drug regulation, and campus activism. The tone is analytical and exploratory, often questioning conventional wisdom and examining evidence from multiple angles. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines the ethics of sympathy for workers in difficult professions, exploring the tension between economic incentives and personal experiences in shaping our views on labor issues. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the ethics of sympathy for workers in difficult professions, comparing his support for striking junior doctors with his lesser sympathy for struggling adjunct professors. He examines the role of personal experience, economic incentives, and societal obligations in shaping our views on these issues. The post delves into the complexities of 'skin in the game' arguments, discussing whether those directly affected by a situation have unique insights or are too biased to offer objective assessments. Scott uses personal anecdotes and hypothetical scenarios to illustrate the tension between rational economic arguments and emotional realities, ultimately questioning whether personal experience provides knowledge that can't be fully reduced to factual propositions. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander criticizes mainstream media's recent focus on 'coddled' college students in social justice debates, arguing it overlooks more serious issues and reflects a bias towards elite academic perspectives. Longer summary

Scott Alexander expresses concern about the recent mainstream media criticism of social justice movements. He contrasts the issues raised by small bloggers, which focus on bullying and ideological rigidity, with those raised by major media outlets, which tend to focus on college students being 'coddled'. Alexander argues that this media focus is misplaced, overlooking more serious issues while amplifying relatively minor campus disputes. He suggests this bias stems from the media's overrepresentation of elite academic perspectives. Alexander fears that allowing this narrative to dominate could derail more substantive criticism of social justice movements, and sees it as indicative of a broader problem of academia's outsized influence on media and politics. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines 'dualization' in various fields, comparing its effects to non-dualized professions and exploring its causes and broader implications in society. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses the concept of 'dualization' in various fields, comparing academia and drug gangs to illustrate how some professions separate into binary classifications of winners and losers. He contrasts this with non-dualized fields like computer programming, where success is more of a continuous spectrum. The post explores the drawbacks of dualized fields, including higher risk for individuals, potential for oppression, and increased politicization. Scott then examines what causes dualization, considering factors like licensing, regulation, and the concept of privilege. He extends this analysis to other areas like minimum wage and urban growth, questioning if there are ways to provide privileges with minimal dualization. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander proposes that academics blaming their own demographic for societal problems stems from a desire to justify helping others within their moral framework. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the paradox of academics from privileged backgrounds attributing societal problems to their own demographic group. He proposes that this behavior might stem from a fundamental human goodness, combined with a common moral framework he calls 'Moral Therapeutic Deontology'. This framework struggles to justify helping others without obligation, leading people to create reasons why suffering is their fault to align with their moral system. Scott suggests that utilitarianism offers a more straightforward justification for helping others without needing to assign blame, and argues this approach might be more effective in motivating aid without the drawbacks of identity-based guilt. Shorter summary

Scott imagines a future where population growth leads to more historians than historical subjects, resulting in extreme academic specialization and scrutiny of ordinary individuals from our era. Longer summary

Scott Alexander humorously extrapolates current trends in population growth and academic specialization to imagine a future where there are more classicists than ancient Greeks, and eventually more historians studying each person from our era than we might expect. He starts by calculating the current ratio of classicists to ancient Greeks, then projects this forward, considering factors like space colonization and technological advances. The post ends with a fictional scenario where thousands of future scholars are studying the life and tweets of a single, unremarkable person from our time, ironically analyzing a tweet where this person claimed no one noticed or cared about them. Shorter summary

A collection of interesting links from September 2014 covering scientific research, social issues, and curiosities, with commentary from Scott Alexander. Longer summary

This is a links post collecting various interesting articles and news from September 2014. It covers a wide range of topics including academic research, social issues, scientific discoveries, and current events. Notable items include a study about feminist activists and digit ratios, progress on male contraception (Vasalgel), Steven Pinker's critique of Ivy League admissions, research on gut flora and antibiotics, and various interesting historical and scientific curiosities. The post maintains a light tone while discussing both serious topics and amusing finds. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander responds to critiques of his Anti-Reactionary FAQ, addressing focus on recent trends, class gaps, sexual norms, equality, tone, and the concept of the Cathedral. Longer summary

Scott Alexander responds to critiques of his Anti-Reactionary FAQ, addressing several key points: 1) His focus on 50-year trends rather than comparing to preindustrial society, 2) The gap between upper and lower class outcomes, 3) His arguments about sluttiness and contraception, 4) Issues around equality of opportunity vs results, 5) Tone arguments, and 6) The concept of the Cathedral. He defends some of his original points while acknowledging areas where critics made good arguments. Scott also explores why social indicators worsened from the 60s-80s but have improved since, and discusses how progressive values might be extended to lower classes. Shorter summary