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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3 posts found
Oct 19, 2022
acx
28 min 3,823 words 358 comments 331 likes podcast (25 min)
Scott Alexander presents a satirical account of a Bay Area house party, showcasing absurd startup ideas and intellectual discussions that parody Silicon Valley culture. Longer summary
Scott Alexander describes another fictional Bay Area house party, filled with eccentric characters pitching outlandish startup ideas and discussing bizarre theories. The narrative weaves through conversations about AI-generated myths, financial communication through rap, the future of human thought in the age of AI, Wikipedia editing dilemmas, extreme urban planning ideas, and ethical considerations in organ donation. The story satirizes Silicon Valley culture, startup mentality, and various intellectual subcultures. Shorter summary
May 30, 2015
ssc
21 min 2,924 words 185 comments
Scott Alexander dissects a hoax chocolate study to critique common misconceptions about nutrition science, study design, and statistical methods. Longer summary
Scott Alexander analyzes a viral study claiming chocolate aids weight loss, which was revealed as a hoax designed to expose poor science journalism. He critiques four common but incorrect conclusions drawn from this incident: that people were gullible for believing it, that nutrition isn't a real science, that studies always need high sample sizes, and that p-values should be eliminated. Scott argues that there is previous research supporting chocolate's health benefits, that nutrition science uses multiple study types to build evidence, that sample size importance depends on the effect being studied, and that p-values have their place in research. He agrees with the fifth conclusion that science journalism should be trusted less, but notes that some sources like Wikipedia and specialized blogs are more reliable. Shorter summary
Jan 21, 2015
ssc
20 min 2,773 words 682 comments
Scott Alexander presents a new list of internet annoyances for 2015, ranging from argumentative tactics to web design issues. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reflects on his 2014 post about things he wanted to stop seeing on the internet, noting some improvements. He then lists 10 new annoyances for 2015, including misuse of Poe's Law, overuse of violent language in debate, cheap shots in arguments, Wikipedia-shaming, intrusive web design, clickbait tactics, overuse of 'entitled' as an insult, confusing 'post-' labels, and pedantic disputes about human evolution. The post is written in a humorous and slightly exasperated tone, critiquing various internet habits and trends. Shorter summary