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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Jun 20, 2024
acx

Fake Tradition Is Traditional

11 min • 1,535 words • 813 comments • 349 likes • podcast (9 min)
Scott Alexander defends the practice of looking to idealized traditions for inspiration, arguing it's a common and useful human approach to creativity and innovation. Longer summary
Scott Alexander discusses the concept of tradition and how it's often misunderstood or criticized. He argues that references to the past or tradition are often just 'pointers' to specific aspects people appreciate, not necessarily an endorsement of everything from that era. He challenges the idea that past cultures didn't look back to idealized histories, providing examples from various periods showing how looking to an idealized past has been a common human practice. Scott suggests that using tradition as inspiration can be a psychologically easier way to introduce new ideas or practices than presenting them as entirely original. Shorter summary
Sep 23, 2021
acx

Whither Tartaria?

25 min • 3,495 words • 1,126 comments • 249 likes • podcast (27 min)
Scott Alexander explores the 'Tartaria' conspiracy theory to discuss broader shifts in aesthetic preferences, examining potential explanations and their implications for society. Longer summary
Scott Alexander explores the 'Tartaria' conspiracy theory, which posits that modern architecture is inferior to older styles due to a hidden societal regression. He uses this to discuss broader shifts in aesthetic preferences across various art forms. The post examines several potential explanations for this shift, including changes in wealth signaling, elite tastes, religious influences, labor costs, and the split between high art and mass culture. Scott concludes by reflecting on the importance of understanding these changes, as they relate to broader questions of class, signaling, and how intellectual and cultural elites relate to society at large. Shorter summary
May 17, 2017
ssc

Polyamory Is Not Polygyny

7 min • 968 words • 791 comments
Scott Alexander uses survey data to challenge claims that polyamory leads to a few men monopolizing women, showing these criticisms don't match reality in practice. Longer summary
Scott Alexander addresses criticisms of polyamory from both conservative and pickup artist perspectives, which claim it leads to a few high-status men monopolizing women. Using survey data from the Less Wrong community, he shows these criticisms don't match reality. The data suggests poly women have more partners on average than poly men, and poly men are less likely to be single than monogamous men. Scott acknowledges potential biases in the data but argues it still contradicts the critics' theories. He invites critics to suggest what data would convince them in future surveys. Shorter summary
Mar 03, 2013
ssc

Reactionary Philosophy In An Enormous, Planet-Sized Nutshell

120 min • 16,672 words • 341 comments
The post provides a comprehensive overview of Reactionary philosophy and its critiques of modern progressive society, attempting to present these controversial ideas fairly for the sake of debate. Longer summary
This post provides a comprehensive overview of Reactionary philosophy, presenting its arguments against modern progressive society and in favor of traditional values and governance structures. The author explains Reactionary critiques of democracy, diversity, feminism, and other progressive ideals, and presents Reactionary arguments for monarchy, cultural unity, and traditional gender roles. The post covers topics like race, colonialism, and immigration from a Reactionary perspective. While not endorsing these views, the author attempts to present them fairly to encourage debate and examination of commonly held progressive assumptions. Shorter summary