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Scott Alexander
I have a place where I say complicated things about philosophy and science. That place is my blog. This is where I make terrible puns.
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Scott Alexander Jan 17
If you read my blog sometimes, please take the 2020 SSC survey (should take about 30 minutes).
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Scott Alexander Aug 4
Replying to @MaxCRoser
I also do this! I show to patients going through divorce and bereavement who worry that things will never get better.
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Scott Alexander 7 Jan 19
If you read my blog, please take the 2019 SSC survey - - should take 20-30 minutes.
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Scott Alexander 26 Dec 18
Replying to @bechhof
Yes, but also and . Different measures tell different stories, but overall it seems disappointing giving huge magnitude of spending increase and other reasons for things to improve.
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Scott Alexander 6 Dec 18
Replying to @webdevMason
Nobody has ever figured out a way to make patient complaints result in anything other than yet another Bedside Manner class. It might be some weird form of emotional blackmailing. "Don't complain, or the med students get more Bedside Manner."
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Scott Alexander 6 Dec 18
Replying to @webdevMason
Hello, My Name Is Dr S And I Will Be Your Doctor Today Because You Are In The Hospital. You Are In The Hospital For Pneumonia And I Will Treat Your Pneumonia. Now I Will Jam This Needle Into Your Body. Now I Have Treated Your Pneumonia. My Name Was Dr S. Goodbye. We Respect You!
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Scott Alexander 6 Dec 18
Replying to @webdevMason
Shhhh, any time anyone discusses this issue, medical students have to stay an hour later every day for a "Bedside Manner" class which has no effect except making them talk slightly more like overly polite robots.
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Scott Alexander 2 Dec 18
Replying to @RogueDunderhead
Yes, 8 out of the 9 predictions I made at 95% are on track to come true, ie 89% of them. This is supposed to happen. If all my 95% predictions were right, I would be miscalibrated in saying 95% instead of 100%.
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Scott Alexander 13 Nov 18
I also disagree with it being the singular most important issue; the review post will explain why.
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Scott Alexander 13 Nov 18
The update post was, as the name implies, an update to the larger review. Marijuana-related policing hasn't changed and so there was no need to update that part.
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Scott Alexander 13 Nov 18
The fourth word in that post is a link to my 5000 word review which meticulously quantifies the harm of marijuana-related policing.
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Scott Alexander 6 Nov 18
Replying to @webdevMason @MaxTagher
Email me for the esoteric version.
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Scott Alexander 24 Jul 18
Replying to @patio11
And the link in the tweet ends with "JoCKS". Pretty suspicious!
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Scott Alexander 11 May 18
Replying to @AndrewMakeTweet
I've tried to avoid absolutism. Like nukes, propaganda is important to have if your enemy also has it, but having it is no excuse not also to be working toward a world where it's unnecessary. I talk about this more in the second link I posted.
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Scott Alexander 11 May 18
Replying to @AndrewMakeTweet
I agree with you on this and have warned against this myself - see
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Scott Alexander 11 May 18
Replying to @AndrewMakeTweet
8) Teaching people to reason is the only way to do better than "let's hope the best propagandist is also a good guy". & as Gandhi said, "if you think the world is all bad, remember it contains people like you". If you can reason beyond absorbing propaganda, why not teach others?
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Scott Alexander 11 May 18
Replying to @AndrewMakeTweet
7) I understand it is really tempting just to try to get "our" side to spread better propaganda. But are you a better propagandist than Breitbart? If not, you lose. If so, you win by coincidence, and your side loses later when the coincidence reverses.
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Scott Alexander 11 May 18
Replying to @AndrewMakeTweet
6) The question isn't "can we produce global utopia tomorrow?", it's whether the good communities get to locally expand and win over their neighbors, or whether they decay into the same cesspool as eg the YouTube comments section. My writings are a vote for the former.
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Scott Alexander 11 May 18
Replying to @AndrewMakeTweet
5) In the same way, I think that right now, there are lots of communities with really good discourse norms where people change their minds and try to seek the truth together. I think science is one such community. I hope I the comment section of my blog can be another.
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Scott Alexander 11 May 18
Replying to @AndrewMakeTweet
4) But there's also the opportunity for kind people to build communities with other kind people that don't have the same dog-eat-dog norms as eg high finance. I've lived in some of those communities and I'm grateful those people didn't wait for Utopia before trying to help.
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