Monthly Archives: August 2018

Bureaucracy As Active Ingredient

Commenters on yesterday’s post brought up an important point: sometimes bureaucracies aren’t just inefficient information gathering and processing mechanisms. Sometimes they’re the active ingredient in a plan. Imagine there’s a new $10,000 medication. Insurance companies are legally required to give … Continue reading

Bulls**t Jobs (Part 1 of ∞)

A surprisingly common part of my life: a patient asks me for a doctor’s note for back pain or something. Usually it’s a situation like their work chair hurts their back, and their work won’t let them bring in their … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 308 Comments

Open Thread 109.25

This is the twice-weekly hidden open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. You can also talk at the SSC subreddit or the SSC Discord server.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 353 Comments

Links 8/18: URLin Wall

DMT users are building a “psychedelic temple” on a site in upstate New York that “aligns with the solar plexus of a projected goddess”, and it looks exactly like you would expect. A new AI will draw a picture based … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 604 Comments

Elegy For John McCain

Say a prayer for John McCain Who passes from his earthly pain His eyes are shut upon his brow He warmongers to angels now Beyond the sky, where sorrows cease He rails against the Prince of Peace. The Holy Spirit, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 369 Comments

OT109: Opulent Thread

This is the bi-weekly visible open thread (there are also hidden open threads twice a week you can reach through the Open Thread tab on the top of the page). Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. You … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 976 Comments

Open Thread 108.75

This is the twice-weekly hidden open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. You can also talk at the SSC subreddit or the SSC Discord server.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 708 Comments

Carbon Dioxide: An Open Door Policy

[Content note: reading this post might cause feelings of suffocation or provoke panic attacks in susceptible individuals. Epistemic status is very speculative.] Last month I moved into a small cottage behind a big group house. The cottage is lovely. The … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 213 Comments

Practically-A-Book Review: EA Hotel

Effective altruism (“EA”) is a movement dedicated to redirecting charity-related resources to the most important and successful charities. In practice this involves a lot of research into how important various problems are, and how well various charities work. Some of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 124 Comments

Open Thread 108.5

This is the twice-weekly hidden open thread. As the off-weekend thread, this is culture-war-free, so please try to avoid overly controversial topics. You can also talk at the SSC subreddit or the SSC Discord server.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 661 Comments