Author Archives: Scott Alexander

The Proverbial Murder Mystery

I. Chefs. Hundreds of them. Tall chefs, short chefs, black chefs, white chefs. I pushed forward through them, like an explorer hacking away at undergrowth. They muttered curses at me, but I was stronger than they were. I came to … Continue reading

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OT121: Openumbra 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, but please try to avoid … Continue reading

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Irvine Meetup This Saturday

Where: Underneath this mysterious hexagonal sigil at the University Center food court in Irvine, California. People from LA, San Diego, etc welcome! When: 8:30 PM on Saturday, February 9th. Sorry for the late hour, my schedule is complicated and this … Continue reading

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Survey Results On SSRIs

SSRIs are the most widely used class of psychiatric medications, helpful for depression, anxiety, OCD, panic, PTSD, anger, and certain personality disorders (Why should the same drug treat all these things? Great question!) They’ve been pretty thoroughly studied, but there’s … Continue reading

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Respectability Cascades

I. I don’t know much about gay history, but the heavily mythicized version of it I heard goes like this: At first open homosexuality was totally taboo. A few groups of respectable people with hilariously upper-class names like The Mattachine … Continue reading

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Book Review: Zero To One

I. Zero To One might be the first best-selling business book based on a Tumblr. Stanford student Blake Masters took Peter Thiel’s class on startups. He posted his notes on Tumblr after each lecture. They became a minor sensation. Thiel … Continue reading

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Links 1/19: Linkguistics

If ant trails accidentally form a circle, ants can get stuck in an ant vortex forever, spinning themselves to death. Maybe you’ve heard of Buran, the Soviet space shuttle. But maybe you didn’t know the story behind why it was … Continue reading

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OT120: Openury 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, but please try to avoid … Continue reading

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Predictions For 2019

At the beginning of every year, I make predictions. At the end of every year, I score them. So here are a hundred more for 2019. Rules: all predictions about what will be true on January 1, 2020. Any that … Continue reading

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Psychiat-List Now Up

Lots of people have asked me to recommend them a psychiatrist or therapist. I’ve done a terrible job responding: it’s a conflict of interest to recommend my own group, and I don’t know many people outside of it. So now … Continue reading

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