Monthly Archives: November 2017

Book Review: Legal Systems Very Different From Ours

I. Medieval Icelandic crime victims would sell the right to pursue a perpetrator to the highest bidder. 18th century English justice replaced fines with criminals bribing prosecutors to drop cases. Somali judges compete on the free market; those who give … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 444 Comments

Open Thread 88.5

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

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 392 Comments

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

The Alchemist asked if I wanted a drink. I did, but no amount of staring could make my eyes settle on the color of the liquid in the flask. And the gold the alchemists paid the taxmen smelled funny and … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 214 Comments

Open Thread 88.25

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 | 710 Comments

Does Age Bring Wisdom?

[Related: Can It Be Wrong To Crystallize Patterns?] I. I turn 33 today. I can only hope that age brings wisdom. We’ve been talking recently about the high-level frames and heuristics that organize other concepts. They’re hard to transmit, and … Continue reading

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Concept-Shaped Holes Can Be Impossible To Notice

I. When I wrote about my experiences doing psychotherapy with people, one commenter wondered if I might be schizoid: There are a lot of schizoid people in the rationalist community from what I can tell. The basis of schizoid is … Continue reading

OT88: Homage To Threadalonia

This is the bi-weekly visible 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 | 909 Comments

Non-Expert Explanation

SSC’s review of postmodernism got very mixed reviews. Some of them made a good point: why should I be trying this at all? I’m not a postmodernist, I’m not a philosophy professor, surely someone much more qualified has already written … Continue reading

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Postmodernism For Rationalists (my attempt)

EDIT: Been told by people I trust that this is not a good explanation. Retracted.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 330 Comments

Open Thread 87.75

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 | 837 Comments