How to avoid getting lost reading Scott Alexander and his 1500+ blog posts? This unaffiliated fan website lets you sort and search through the whole codex. Enjoy!

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Sep 13, 2023
acx

Book Review: Elon Musk

81 min • 10,417 words • 985 comments • 317 likes • podcast
Scott reviews Ashlee Vance's 2015 Elon Musk biography, analyzing Musk's personality, work ethic, and business strategies to understand his successes and controversies. Longer summary
This book review analyzes Ashlee Vance's 2015 biography of Elon Musk, examining Musk's personality, work ethic, and business strategies. The review explores Musk's engineering abilities, management style, and the reasons behind his companies' successes despite controversial decisions. It discusses Musk's intense focus, his tendency to set unrealistic timelines, and his impact on employees. The review also touches on Musk's social skills, his approach to PR, and speculates on his future success with Twitter/X. Shorter summary
Sep 02, 2022
acx

The Prophet And Caesar's Wife

20 min • 2,576 words • 186 comments • 288 likes • podcast
A satirical series of encounters between a Prophet and various Bishops, exploring the contradictions in religious leadership and public perception. Longer summary
This satirical post presents a series of vignettes featuring a Prophet encountering various Bishops in different cities, each struggling with the balance between appearance and reality in their religious roles. The Prophet's advice is consistently inconsistent, highlighting the absurdity of trying to please everyone while maintaining a perfect image. The story culminates with the Prophet critiquing God's PR strategy in Heaven, turning the 'Caesar's wife' idiom on its head. Through these interactions, the post explores themes of hypocrisy, moral hazard, and the often contradictory expectations placed on religious leaders. Shorter summary
Aug 13, 2022
acx

Your Book Review: God Emperor Of Dune

40 min • 5,165 words • 322 comments • 119 likes • podcast
A review of 'God Emperor of Dune' by Frank Herbert, analyzing its themes of power, AI risk, and human evolution, while drawing parallels to modern concerns about artificial intelligence. Longer summary
This review analyzes 'God Emperor of Dune', the fourth book in Frank Herbert's Dune series, focusing on its themes of power, AI risk, and human evolution. The reviewer discusses the main characters, particularly Leto II, the god-emperor who rules for 3,500 years as a human-sandworm hybrid. The book is presented as a meditation on leadership, loneliness, and the nature of power, with parallels drawn to modern AI risk concerns. The review also critiques the novel's lack of plot and its treatment of female characters, while highlighting its prescient themes regarding AI and human development. Shorter summary
Apr 15, 2013
ssc

Things I Learned By Spending Five Thousand Years In An Alternate Universe

21 min • 2,651 words • 46 comments • podcast
Scott Alexander reflects on 13 years of participating in Micras, a complex geopolitical role-playing game, discussing its impact on his life and the lessons learned about leadership and human behavior. Longer summary
Scott Alexander reflects on his 13-year involvement in a complex role-playing game called Micras, where participants simulate countries and cultures on a fictional planet. He discusses how this experience has shaped his real-life relationships, skills, and understanding of leadership and human behavior. Scott explains how the game's lack of rules mirrors real-world politics and social dynamics, providing valuable lessons in consensus-building and leadership. He also describes how creating fictional societies in Micras can be a deeply personal and introspective experience, reflecting one's values and evolving worldview. Shorter summary