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History

TagLast edit: Feb 9, 2021, 9:35 AM by Yoav Ravid

History: “Why should I remember the Wright Brothers’ first flight? I was not there. But as a rationalist, could I dare to not remember, when the event actually happened? Is there so much difference between seeing an event through your eyes—which is actually a causal chain involving reflected photons, not a direct connection—and seeing an event through a history book? Photons and history books both descend by causal chains from the event itself.”—Eliezer Yudkowsky, Making History Available.

Related Pages: History of Rationality, History of Less Wrong

Dis­con­tin­u­ous progress in his­tory: an update

KatjaGraceApr 14, 2020, 12:00 AM
190 points
25 comments31 min readLW link1 review
(aiimpacts.org)

A tale from Com­mu­nist China

Wei DaiOct 18, 2020, 5:37 PM
281 points
65 comments2 min readLW link1 review

An Ob­ser­va­tion of Vav­ilov Day

ElizabethJan 3, 2022, 9:10 PM
236 points
42 comments3 min readLW link
(acesounderglass.com)

Cortés, Pizarro, and Afonso as Prece­dents for Takeover

Daniel KokotajloMar 1, 2020, 3:49 AM
180 points
78 comments11 min readLW link1 review

Re­view: For­agers, Farm­ers, and Fos­sil Fuels

L Rudolf LSep 2, 2021, 5:59 PM
28 points
7 comments25 min readLW link
(strataoftheworld.blogspot.com)

Ra­tion­al­ism be­fore the Sequences

Eric RaymondMar 30, 2021, 2:04 PM
594 points
83 comments11 min readLW link2 reviews

The 300-year jour­ney to the covid vaccine

jasoncrawfordNov 9, 2020, 11:06 PM
123 points
9 comments5 min readLW link2 reviews
(rootsofprogress.org)

Mak­ing His­tory Available

Eliezer YudkowskyAug 31, 2007, 7:52 PM
196 points
87 comments3 min readLW link

12 in­ter­est­ing things I learned study­ing the dis­cov­ery of na­ture’s laws

Ben PaceFeb 19, 2022, 11:39 PM
268 points
40 comments9 min readLW link1 review

What is it good for? But ac­tu­ally?

KatjaGraceDec 16, 2020, 9:20 AM
44 points
17 comments2 min readLW link
(worldspiritsockpuppet.com)

[An­swer] Why wasn’t sci­ence in­vented in China?

RubyApr 23, 2019, 9:47 PM
95 points
46 comments21 min readLW link1 review

Why ev­ery­thing might have taken so long

KatjaGraceJan 1, 2018, 1:00 AM
113 points
16 comments3 min readLW link1 review
(meteuphoric.wordpress.com)

Hu­man­ity is Win­ning the Fight Against In­fec­tious Disease

lsusrAug 30, 2021, 1:31 AM
60 points
8 comments2 min readLW link

The Coper­ni­can Revolu­tion from the Inside

Bird ConceptNov 1, 2017, 10:51 AM
156 points
46 comments19 min readLW link

On Build­ing The­o­ries of History

Samo BurjaFeb 23, 2018, 11:40 PM
30 points
20 comments5 min readLW link

Book Re­view: Albion’s Seed

Scott AlexanderApr 27, 2016, 8:40 AM
34 points
1 comment32 min readLW link

Lives of the Cam­bridge poly­math geniuses

Owain_EvansJan 25, 2022, 4:45 AM
108 points
40 comments3 min readLW link

Book Re­view: Ages Of Discord

Scott AlexanderSep 3, 2019, 6:30 AM
36 points
1 comment21 min readLW link
(slatestarcodex.com)

Failing to Learn from History

Eliezer YudkowskyAug 30, 2007, 8:22 PM
116 points
11 comments1 min readLW link

Moloch and the sand­pile catastrophe

Eric RaymondApr 2, 2022, 3:35 PM
120 points
25 comments3 min readLW link

Jean Mon­net: The Guerilla Bureaucrat

Martin SustrikMar 20, 2021, 10:37 AM
177 points
25 comments18 min readLW link1 review

High­lights from the mem­o­irs of Van­nevar Bush

jasoncrawfordJul 15, 2022, 6:08 PM
11 points
0 comments13 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

[Question] What are the best prece­dents for in­dus­tries failing to in­vest in valuable AI re­search?

Daniel KokotajloDec 14, 2020, 11:57 PM
18 points
16 comments1 min readLW link

Book re­view: WEIRDest People

PeterMcCluskeyNov 30, 2020, 3:33 AM
105 points
57 comments9 min readLW link
(www.bayesianinvestor.com)

Why haven’t we cel­e­brated any ma­jor achieve­ments lately?

jasoncrawfordAug 17, 2020, 8:34 PM
198 points
69 comments12 min readLW link2 reviews
(rootsofprogress.org)

The Choice Transition

Nov 18, 2024, 12:30 PM
50 points
4 comments15 min readLW link
(strangecities.substack.com)

Les­sons on AI Takeover from the conquistadors

Jul 17, 2020, 10:35 PM
61 points
31 comments6 min readLW link

Ret­ro­spec­tive forecasting

Ege ErdilJan 30, 2022, 4:38 PM
23 points
6 comments5 min readLW link

Clem’s Memo

abstractapplicApr 16, 2022, 11:59 AM
98 points
8 comments3 min readLW link

my the­ory of the in­dus­trial revolution

bhauthFeb 28, 2024, 9:07 PM
23 points
7 comments3 min readLW link
(www.bhauth.com)

Defend­ing against hy­po­thet­i­cal moon life dur­ing Apollo 11

eukaryoteJan 7, 2024, 4:49 AM
57 points
9 comments32 min readLW link
(eukaryotewritesblog.com)

Book re­view: Cui­sine and Empire

eukaryoteJan 21, 2024, 6:15 AM
40 points
2 comments12 min readLW link
(eukaryotewritesblog.com)

Ver­nor Vinge, who coined the term “Tech­nolog­i­cal Sin­gu­lar­ity”, dies at 79

Kaj_SotalaMar 21, 2024, 10:14 PM
149 points
25 comments1 min readLW link
(arstechnica.com)

Carl Sa­gan, nuk­ing the moon, and not nuk­ing the moon

eukaryoteApr 13, 2024, 4:08 AM
104 points
8 comments6 min readLW link
(eukaryotewritesblog.com)

Ad­vice for Ac­tivists from the His­tory of Environmentalism

Jeffrey HeningerMay 16, 2024, 6:40 PM
100 points
8 comments6 min readLW link
(blog.aiimpacts.org)

Book Re­view: Righ­teous Vic­tims—A His­tory of the Zion­ist-Arab Conflict

Yair HalberstadtJun 24, 2024, 11:02 AM
53 points
8 comments34 min readLW link

Aris­toc­racy and Hostage Capital

Arjun PanicksseryJan 8, 2025, 7:38 PM
107 points
7 comments3 min readLW link
(arjunpanickssery.substack.com)

[Question] Have epistemic con­di­tions always been this bad?

Wei DaiJan 25, 2020, 4:42 AM
210 points
106 comments4 min readLW link1 review

Some ar­ti­cles in “In­ter­na­tional Se­cu­rity” that I enjoyed

BuckJan 31, 2025, 4:23 PM
129 points
10 comments4 min readLW link

Cross­ing the His­tory-Les­sons Threshold

lionhearted (Sebastian Marshall)Oct 17, 2014, 12:17 AM
50 points
65 comments6 min readLW link

Study­ing Early Stage Science: Re­search Pro­gram Introduction

habrykaJan 17, 2020, 10:12 PM
32 points
1 comment15 min readLW link
(medium.com)

The Cold War di­vided Science

Douglas_KnightApr 5, 2014, 11:10 PM
35 points
53 comments1 min readLW link

A brief his­tory of eth­i­cally con­cerned scientists

Kaj_SotalaFeb 9, 2013, 5:50 AM
104 points
143 comments14 min readLW link

Book re­view: The Sleep­walk­ers by Arthur Koestler

Richard_NgoApr 23, 2019, 12:10 AM
68 points
26 comments9 min readLW link
(thinkingcomplete.blogspot.com)

Book Re­view: The Se­crets of Alchemy

namespaceJan 21, 2018, 7:01 PM
19 points
7 comments14 min readLW link

Black Death at the Golden Gate (book re­view)

PeterMcCluskeyJun 26, 2020, 4:09 PM
17 points
0 comments4 min readLW link
(www.bayesianinvestor.com)

How min­i­mal is our in­tel­li­gence?

Douglas_ReayNov 25, 2012, 11:34 PM
78 points
214 comments6 min readLW link

A His­tory of Bayes’ Theorem

lukeprogAug 29, 2011, 7:04 AM
76 points
91 comments15 min readLW link

[Question] Has there been a “memetic col­lapse”?

Eli TyreDec 28, 2019, 5:36 AM
32 points
7 comments1 min readLW link

Epistemic Spot Checks: The Fall of Rome

ElizabethOct 16, 2019, 6:40 PM
38 points
2 comments8 min readLW link
(acesounderglass.com)

Mini-re­view: ‘Prov­ing His­tory: Bayes’ The­o­rem and the Quest for the His­tor­i­cal Je­sus’

lukeprogFeb 1, 2012, 7:20 PM
26 points
34 comments1 min readLW link

Tra­di­tion is Smarter Than You Are

Kaj_SotalaSep 19, 2018, 5:54 PM
64 points
10 comments1 min readLW link
(scholars-stage.blogspot.com)

Jan Bloch’s Im­pos­si­ble War

SlimepriestessFeb 17, 2020, 4:14 PM
112 points
30 comments5 min readLW link
(hivewired.wordpress.com)

Les­sons from the Cold War on In­for­ma­tion Hazards: Why In­ter­nal Com­mu­ni­ca­tion is Critical

GentzelFeb 24, 2018, 11:34 PM
47 points
10 comments4 min readLW link

[Question] How has the cost of cloth­ing in­su­la­tion changed since 1970 in the USA?

DanielFilanJan 12, 2020, 11:31 PM
14 points
10 comments1 min readLW link

De­bate Rules In Ben­jamin Fran­klin’s Junto

namespaceOct 30, 2018, 11:42 PM
77 points
8 comments1 min readLW link

Eisen­hower’s Atoms for Peace Speech

AkashMay 17, 2023, 4:10 PM
18 points
3 comments11 min readLW link
(www.iaea.org)

The Oil Cri­sis of 1973

ElizabethMay 22, 2020, 3:50 PM
79 points
10 comments3 min readLW link1 review
(acesounderglass.com)

Tech­nol­ogy Changes Constraints

johnswentworthJan 25, 2020, 11:13 PM
116 points
6 comments4 min readLW link

Notes on the Pres­i­den­tial Elec­tion of 1836

Arjun PanicksseryFeb 13, 2025, 11:40 PM
23 points
0 comments7 min readLW link
(arjunpanickssery.substack.com)

A brief his­tory of computers

Adam ZernerJul 19, 2023, 2:59 AM
73 points
18 comments33 min readLW link

Indig­na­tion in re­sponse to the 1890 census

jasoncrawfordSep 8, 2020, 8:14 PM
26 points
1 comment1 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Philos­o­phy of Therapy

DaystarEldOct 10, 2020, 8:12 PM
121 points
27 comments16 min readLW link
(daystareld.com)

Ten Thou­sand Years of Solitude

agpAug 15, 2023, 5:45 PM
136 points
19 comments4 min readLW link
(www.discovermagazine.com)

The lost millennium

Ege ErdilAug 24, 2023, 3:48 AM
53 points
14 comments3 min readLW link

A So­cial His­tory of Truth

VaniverJul 31, 2023, 10:49 PM
64 points
2 comments14 min readLW link

The Flynn Effect Clarified

PeterMcCluskeyDec 12, 2020, 5:18 AM
34 points
2 comments4 min readLW link
(www.bayesianinvestor.com)

When life was liter­ally full of crap

jasoncrawfordDec 21, 2020, 9:16 PM
60 points
4 comments5 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Turn­ing air into bread

jasoncrawfordOct 21, 2019, 5:50 PM
103 points
12 comments6 min readLW link1 review
(rootsofprogress.org)

Birds, Brains, Planes, and AI: Against Ap­peals to the Com­plex­ity/​Mys­te­ri­ous­ness/​Effi­ciency of the Brain

Daniel KokotajloJan 18, 2021, 12:08 PM
194 points
86 comments13 min readLW link1 review

Po­ten­tial fac­tors in Bell Labs’ in­tel­lec­tual progress, Pt. 1

RubyFeb 12, 2021, 7:26 PM
50 points
6 comments8 min readLW link

[Book Re­view] Destiny Disrupted

lsusrMar 21, 2021, 7:09 AM
58 points
4 comments9 min readLW link

Les­sons from “The Book of My Life”

bmgarfinkelJan 6, 2021, 10:40 PM
114 points
3 comments16 min readLW link
(benmgarfinkel.wordpress.com)

The Fall of Rome, III: Progress Did Not Exist

LukeOnlineApr 25, 2021, 5:54 AM
30 points
18 comments5 min readLW link

[Linkpost] Teach­ing Para­dox, Europa Univer­alis IV, Part I: State of Play

adamShimiMay 2, 2021, 9:02 AM
17 points
5 comments1 min readLW link
(acoup.blog)

We need a new philos­o­phy of progress

jasoncrawfordAug 23, 2021, 9:31 PM
65 points
44 comments2 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

We Live in an Era of Un­prece­dented World Peace

lsusrAug 30, 2021, 10:25 PM
27 points
15 comments1 min readLW link

World War Zero

lsusrAug 31, 2021, 7:22 AM
53 points
1 comment5 min readLW link

How fac­to­ries were made safe

jasoncrawfordSep 12, 2021, 7:58 PM
185 points
46 comments18 min readLW link1 review
(rootsofprogress.org)

100 Years Of Ex­is­ten­tial Risk

jdpSep 27, 2021, 12:31 AM
81 points
12 comments33 min readLW link
(www.wrestlinggnon.com)

Re­view: The End Is Always Near

ElizabethSep 27, 2021, 7:40 AM
37 points
10 comments3 min readLW link
(acesounderglass.com)

[Book re­view] Who we are and how we got here

mukashiSep 30, 2021, 4:26 AM
14 points
0 comments8 min readLW link

What can we learn from tra­di­tional so­cieties?

mukashiOct 5, 2021, 12:24 AM
18 points
11 comments11 min readLW link

Cheap food causes co­op­er­a­tive ethics

lsusrOct 7, 2021, 1:52 AM
71 points
19 comments2 min readLW link

Noragami

lsusrOct 8, 2021, 5:11 AM
25 points
5 comments2 min readLW link

Book Re­view: Churchill and Orwell

Sammy MartinOct 9, 2021, 7:01 PM
47 points
5 comments11 min readLW link

Book Re­view: Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

dmanningcoeOct 13, 2021, 4:22 PM
28 points
3 comments17 min readLW link

Where did the 5 micron num­ber come from? Nowhere good. [Wired.com]

ElizabethNov 9, 2021, 7:14 AM
108 points
8 comments1 min readLW link1 review
(www.wired.com)

The bonds of fam­ily and com­mu­nity: Poverty and cru­elty among Rus­sian peas­ants in the late 19th century

jasoncrawfordNov 28, 2021, 5:22 PM
151 points
36 comments15 min readLW link1 review
(rootsofprogress.org)

The end of Vic­to­rian cul­ture, part I: struc­tural forces

David Hugh-JonesDec 9, 2021, 7:25 PM
24 points
0 comments4 min readLW link
(wyclif.substack.com)

The end of Vic­to­rian cul­ture, part II: peo­ple and history

David Hugh-JonesDec 18, 2021, 6:55 PM
9 points
0 comments7 min readLW link
(wyclif.substack.com)

[Book Re­view] “The Most Pow­er­ful Idea in the World” by William Rosen

lsusrDec 23, 2021, 8:27 AM
41 points
4 comments8 min readLW link

Why did Europe con­quer the world?

lsusrDec 28, 2021, 12:00 PM
1 point
48 comments6 min readLW link

Why do we need a NEW philos­o­phy of progress?

jasoncrawfordJan 25, 2022, 5:28 PM
75 points
26 comments8 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Trans­porta­tion as a Constraint

johnswentworthApr 6, 2020, 4:58 AM
183 points
34 comments6 min readLW link1 review

Ob­served pat­terns around ma­jor tech­nolog­i­cal advancements

Richard Korzekwa Feb 3, 2022, 12:30 AM
44 points
15 comments11 min readLW link
(aiimpacts.org)

Con­spir­acy-proof archeology

MalmesburyFeb 27, 2022, 10:59 PM
65 points
10 comments6 min readLW link

The Dawn of Every­thing: a review

David Hugh-JonesMar 21, 2022, 12:53 PM
32 points
2 comments5 min readLW link
(wyclif.substack.com)

Albert Hirschman on liber­al­ism and nationalism

David Hugh-JonesMar 23, 2022, 10:08 AM
6 points
0 comments4 min readLW link
(wyclif.substack.com)

The lure of technocracy

jasoncrawfordMar 31, 2022, 7:58 PM
27 points
13 comments4 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Rein­vent­ing the wheel

jasoncrawfordJun 4, 2022, 10:39 PM
78 points
13 comments2 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Fiber arts, mys­te­ri­ous do­dec­a­he­drons, and wait­ing on “Eureka!”

eukaryoteAug 4, 2022, 8:37 PM
124 points
15 comments9 min readLW link1 review
(eukaryotewritesblog.com)

Amer­i­can in­ven­tion from the “heroic age” to the sys­tem-build­ing era

jasoncrawfordOct 6, 2022, 5:19 PM
13 points
1 comment10 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

The Book of The Machines (Chap­ter 8)

Justin BullockOct 7, 2022, 7:07 PM
2 points
0 comments40 min readLW link

From tech­noc­racy to the counterculture

jasoncrawfordOct 11, 2022, 7:37 PM
28 points
1 comment26 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Beyond a bet­ter world

DavidmanheimDec 14, 2022, 10:18 AM
14 points
7 comments4 min readLW link
(progressforum.org)

When Did EA Start?

jefftkJan 25, 2023, 2:30 PM
37 points
2 comments2 min readLW link
(www.jefftk.com)

Who in­vented knit­ting? The plot thick­ens

eukaryoteFeb 5, 2023, 12:24 AM
60 points
9 comments19 min readLW link
(eukaryotewritesblog.com)

Mach’s Prin­ci­ple: Anti-Epiphe­nom­e­nal Physics

Eliezer YudkowskyMay 24, 2008, 5:01 AM
42 points
26 comments10 min readLW link

Model­ing AI-driven oc­cu­pa­tional change over the next 10 years and beyond

2120ethNov 12, 2024, 4:58 AM
1 point
0 comments2 min readLW link

An ex­tended rocket al­ign­ment analogy

rememberAug 13, 2022, 6:22 PM
28 points
3 comments4 min readLW link

A Dou­ble-Fea­ture on The Extropians

Maxwell TabarrokJun 3, 2023, 6:27 PM
59 points
4 comments1 min readLW link

Liv­ing By Your Own Strength

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 22, 2008, 12:37 AM
46 points
32 comments5 min readLW link

[Question] Has gov­ern­ment or in­dus­try had greater past suc­cess in main­tain­ing re­ally pow­er­ful tech­nolog­i­cal se­crets?

habrykaMay 1, 2019, 2:24 AM
27 points
15 comments1 min readLW link

The In­sti­tute For Pro­pa­ganda Anal­y­sis, A Pre­cur­sor and a Warning

[deleted]Mar 29, 2012, 6:23 PM
37 points
10 comments4 min readLW link

A Brief His­tory of LessWrong

RubyJun 1, 2019, 12:43 AM
39 points
2 comments1 min readLW link

AI Risk and Op­por­tu­nity: Hu­man­ity’s Efforts So Far

lukeprogMar 21, 2012, 2:49 AM
56 points
49 comments23 min readLW link

Poets are in­tel­li­gence assets

BenquoOct 25, 2017, 3:30 AM
10 points
1 comment8 min readLW link
(benjaminrosshoffman.com)

Diver­gence on Ev­i­dence Due to Differ­ing Pri­ors—A Poli­ti­cal Case Study

DavidmanheimSep 16, 2019, 11:01 AM
27 points
3 comments3 min readLW link

What I Think About When I Think About History

Jacob G-WJul 4, 2023, 2:02 PM
2 points
4 comments3 min readLW link
(g-w1.github.io)

More power to you

jasoncrawfordDec 15, 2021, 11:50 PM
16 points
14 comments1 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

Log­i­cal or Con­nec­tion­ist AI?

Eliezer YudkowskyNov 17, 2008, 8:03 AM
46 points
26 comments9 min readLW link

A Parable of Elites and Takeoffs

gwernJun 30, 2014, 11:04 PM
39 points
98 comments5 min readLW link

Free­dom is slavery

KatjaGraceSep 4, 2009, 9:00 AM
1 point
0 comments1 min readLW link

Toni Kurz and the In­san­ity of Climb­ing Mountains

GeneSmithJul 3, 2022, 8:51 PM
271 points
67 comments11 min readLW link2 reviews

Unal­igned AGI & Brief His­tory of Inequality

ankFeb 22, 2025, 4:26 PM
−18 points
4 comments7 min readLW link

On State­less Societies

Martin SustrikDec 27, 2021, 7:28 AM
54 points
24 comments3 min readLW link

Sleep­walk­ing Toward Armageddon

SlimepriestessMar 9, 2020, 7:28 AM
14 points
3 comments1 min readLW link
(hivewired.wordpress.com)

Land war in Asia

ApprenticeDec 7, 2016, 7:31 PM
26 points
19 comments1 min readLW link

Were vac­cines rele­vant to 20th cen­tury US mor­tal­ity im­prove­ments?

jasoncrawfordDec 10, 2019, 12:13 AM
12 points
7 comments3 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

We are the Athe­ni­ans, not the Spartans

wubblesJun 11, 2017, 5:53 AM
29 points
42 comments2 min readLW link

WMDs in Iraq and Syria

ChristianKlMay 10, 2017, 9:03 PM
15 points
10 comments1 min readLW link

[Link] The Hy­bo­rian Age

GLaDOSJan 21, 2012, 7:00 PM
34 points
6 comments2 min readLW link

Ro­mae Industriae

Maxwell TabarrokJul 19, 2024, 1:03 PM
34 points
2 comments7 min readLW link
(www.maximum-progress.com)

In the be­gin­ning, Dart­mouth cre­ated the AI and the hype

Stuart_ArmstrongJan 24, 2013, 4:49 PM
33 points
19 comments1 min readLW link

What can we learn about childrea­r­ing from J. S. Mill?

Adam ScherlisApr 2, 2024, 6:06 AM
9 points
1 comment1 min readLW link

Re­play­ing History

Gordon Seidoh WorleyMay 8, 2009, 5:35 AM
7 points
19 comments2 min readLW link

Ori­gins of the Lab Mouse

Niko_McCartyJun 2, 2024, 3:40 PM
16 points
0 comments20 min readLW link
(press.asimov.com)

Agency in Politics

Martin SustrikJul 17, 2024, 5:30 AM
35 points
2 comments3 min readLW link
(250bpm.substack.com)

[Question] Why did the Ming trea­sure voy­ages end in 1433?

ChristianKlNov 30, 2020, 1:30 PM
15 points
0 comments1 min readLW link

WTF is with the In­fancy Gospel of Thomas?!? A deep dive into satire, philos­o­phy, and more

kromemJul 9, 2024, 9:29 AM
18 points
1 comment11 min readLW link

The Wis­dom of Liv­ing for 200 Years

Martin SustrikJun 28, 2024, 4:44 AM
25 points
3 comments4 min readLW link

An­cient So­cial Pat­terns: Comitatus

ryan_bMar 5, 2018, 6:28 PM
8 points
0 comments2 min readLW link

Mud­dling Along Is More Likely Than Dystopia

Jeffrey HeningerOct 20, 2023, 9:25 PM
88 points
10 comments8 min readLW link

The Pu­ri­tans would one-box: ev­i­den­tial de­ci­sion the­ory in the 17th century

Jacob G-WOct 14, 2023, 8:23 PM
86 points
5 comments3 min readLW link
(jacobgw.com)

Was a Sub­way in New York City Inevitable?

Jeffrey HeningerMar 30, 2024, 12:53 AM
29 points
4 comments8 min readLW link
(blog.aiimpacts.org)

His­tory of the the­ory of well-being

David HartsoughSep 30, 2022, 10:08 AM
5 points
0 comments1 min readLW link

Why Weren’t Hot Air Bal­loons In­vented Sooner?

Lost FuturesOct 18, 2022, 12:41 AM
115 points
52 comments6 min readLW link
(lostfutures.substack.com)

The Story of the Reichstag

Martin SustrikFeb 5, 2021, 5:51 AM
95 points
21 comments2 min readLW link

The Per­cep­tron Controversy

Yuxi_LiuJan 10, 2024, 11:07 PM
65 points
18 comments1 min readLW link
(yuxi-liu-wired.github.io)

He­lio­cen­trism in the an­cient era

ForensicOceanographyFeb 16, 2021, 8:34 AM
17 points
6 comments6 min readLW link
(forensicoceanography.wordpress.com)

Oliver Sipple

KatjaGraceFeb 19, 2021, 7:00 AM
109 points
13 comments2 min readLW link1 review
(worldspiritsockpuppet.com)

Book Re­view: Sec­u­lar Cycles

Scott AlexanderAug 13, 2019, 4:10 AM
62 points
10 comments16 min readLW link1 review
(slatestarcodex.com)

Am­bi­guity causes conflict

Ege ErdilFeb 26, 2022, 4:53 PM
24 points
9 comments8 min readLW link

Was Par­ti­san­ship Good for the En­vi­ron­men­tal Move­ment?

Jeffrey HeningerMay 15, 2024, 5:30 PM
24 points
0 comments5 min readLW link
(blog.aiimpacts.org)

High­lights from The Au­to­bi­og­ra­phy of An­drew Carnegie

jasoncrawfordApr 8, 2021, 10:03 PM
92 points
9 comments19 min readLW link1 review
(rootsofprogress.org)

Why Rome?

Erich_GrunewaldMar 12, 2022, 11:29 AM
19 points
7 comments8 min readLW link
(www.erichgrunewald.com)

[Question] Is there a good dataset for the mo­ments of the in­come dis­tri­bu­tion through­out his­tory?

Ege ErdilMar 12, 2022, 1:26 PM
9 points
0 comments1 min readLW link

Cur­ing in­san­ity with malaria

Swimmer963 (Miranda Dixon-Luinenburg) Aug 4, 2021, 2:28 AM
159 points
8 comments4 min readLW link1 review

[Question] Book recom­men­da­tions for the his­tory of ML?

Eleni AngelouDec 28, 2022, 11:50 PM
2 points
2 comments1 min readLW link

A Nar­ra­tive His­tory of En­vi­ron­men­tal­ism’s Partisanship

Jeffrey HeningerMay 14, 2024, 4:51 PM
31 points
3 comments10 min readLW link
(blog.aiimpacts.org)

Call for Cruxes by Rhyme, a Longter­mist His­tory Consultancy

LaraMar 1, 2023, 6:39 PM
1 point
0 comments3 min readLW link
(forum.effectivealtruism.org)

Ab­bots Brom­ley Horn Dance History

jefftkOct 12, 2022, 2:10 AM
11 points
0 comments2 min readLW link
(www.jefftk.com)

En­vi­ron­men­tal­ism in the United States Is Unusu­ally Partisan

Jeffrey HeningerMay 13, 2024, 9:23 PM
85 points
26 comments4 min readLW link
(blog.aiimpacts.org)

The vir­tu­ous cir­cle: twelve con­jec­tures about fe­male re­pro­duc­tive agency and cul­tural self-determination

Miles SaltielDec 27, 2023, 6:25 PM
0 points
2 comments14 min readLW link

The Ra­tion­al­ist Guide to Hinduism

Harsha G.Mar 29, 2023, 5:03 PM
24 points
12 comments9 min readLW link
(somestrangeloops.substack.com)

Napoleon stole the Ro­man In­qui­si­tion archives and in­ves­ti­gated the Gal­ileo case

Meow PNov 27, 2023, 9:41 AM
−3 points
0 comments1 min readLW link
(www.cricetuscricetus.co.uk)

Ja­pan’s Ninja Masters of Mys­tic Chaos

John HeinzNov 27, 2023, 11:37 PM
1 point
0 comments1 min readLW link

AI Model His­tory is Be­ing Lost

ValeMar 16, 2025, 12:38 PM
19 points
1 comment1 min readLW link
(vale.rocks)

I, Token

Ivan VendrovNov 25, 2024, 2:20 AM
14 points
2 comments3 min readLW link
(nothinghuman.substack.com)

Book Re­view: Who We Are and How We Got Here

Yair HalberstadtSep 24, 2021, 5:05 AM
16 points
4 comments15 min readLW link

Are There Ex­am­ples of Over­hang for Other Tech­nolo­gies?

Jeffrey HeningerDec 13, 2023, 9:48 PM
59 points
50 comments11 min readLW link
(blog.aiimpacts.org)

The Debtors’ Revolt

BenquoApr 6, 2022, 7:40 PM
44 points
4 comments41 min readLW link
(benjaminrosshoffman.com)

The Cuban mis­sile crisis: the strate­gic context

NathanBarnardMay 16, 2022, 12:12 PM
18 points
2 comments10 min readLW link

The Fourth Arena: What’s Up in the world these days? We’re mov­ing to a new, a new what?

Bill BenzonJun 4, 2022, 7:07 PM
2 points
0 comments3 min readLW link

Nu­clear Es­pi­onage and AI Governance

GuiveOct 4, 2021, 11:04 PM
32 points
5 comments24 min readLW link

[Question] His­tor­i­cal ex­am­ples of peo­ple gain­ing un­usual cog­ni­tive abil­ities?

Nicholas / Heather KrossNov 24, 2022, 7:01 PM
8 points
2 comments1 min readLW link

The Fourth Arena 2: New be­ings in time

Bill BenzonJun 5, 2022, 1:30 PM
1 point
0 comments2 min readLW link

Book Re­view: How the World Be­came Rich

Davis KedroskyJun 9, 2022, 4:55 PM
14 points
0 comments10 min readLW link
(daviskedrosky.substack.com)

Paradigm Shifts—change ev­ery­thing… ex­cept al­most everything

James Stephen BrownNov 23, 2024, 6:34 PM
2 points
0 comments3 min readLW link
(nonzerosum.games)

Pas­sages I High­lighted in The Let­ters of J.R.R.Tolkien

Ivan VendrovNov 25, 2024, 1:47 AM
139 points
38 comments31 min readLW link

Was the In­dus­trial Revolu­tion The In­dus­trial Revolu­tion?

Davis KedroskyJun 14, 2022, 2:48 PM
29 points
0 comments12 min readLW link
(daviskedrosky.substack.com)

Books Re­view: “Sapi­ens”, “Homo Deus” and “21 Les­sons For The 21st Cen­tury”, by Yu­val Noah Harari

Luca ParodiOct 13, 2021, 4:21 PM
19 points
2 comments16 min readLW link

1689: Un­cov­er­ing the World New In­sti­tu­tion­al­ism Created

Davis KedroskyJun 17, 2022, 7:32 PM
7 points
0 comments9 min readLW link
(daviskedrosky.substack.com)

The abrupt­ness of nu­clear weapons

paulfchristianoFeb 25, 2018, 5:40 PM
47 points
35 comments2 min readLW link

Re­search: Res­cuers dur­ing the Holocaust

Martin SustrikApr 30, 2018, 6:15 AM
97 points
14 comments9 min readLW link1 review

Can the Chain Still Hold You?

lukeprogJan 13, 2012, 1:28 AM
215 points
361 comments4 min readLW link

Drain­ing the swamp

jasoncrawfordJan 28, 2020, 9:37 PM
99 points
1 comment11 min readLW link
(rootsofprogress.org)

[Question] How did academia en­sure pa­pers were cor­rect in the early 20th Cen­tury?

Ben PaceDec 29, 2018, 11:37 PM
99 points
17 comments2 min readLW link1 review

Rule Thinkers In, Not Out

Scott AlexanderFeb 27, 2019, 2:40 AM
230 points
67 comments4 min readLW link4 reviews
(slatestarcodex.com)

The Malthu­sian Trap: An Ex­tremely Short Introduction

Davis KedroskyJun 19, 2022, 3:25 PM
5 points
0 comments6 min readLW link
(daviskedrosky.substack.com)

And the AI would have got away with it too, if...

Stuart_ArmstrongMay 22, 2019, 9:35 PM
75 points
7 comments1 min readLW link

Farewell Aaron Swartz (1986-2013)

KawoombaJan 12, 2013, 10:09 AM
120 points
117 comments1 min readLW link

The Skep­tic’s Trilemma

Scott AlexanderMar 15, 2009, 12:12 AM
84 points
15 comments5 min readLW link

Stranger Than History

Eliezer YudkowskySep 1, 2007, 6:57 PM
137 points
335 comments1 min readLW link

Guardians of Ayn Rand

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 18, 2007, 6:24 AM
118 points
122 comments5 min readLW link

When None Dare Urge Restraint

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 8, 2007, 11:09 PM
124 points
123 comments2 min readLW link

Im­pe­rial Rus­sia was do­ing fine with­out the Soviets

Davis KedroskyJul 5, 2022, 10:24 PM
6 points
3 comments14 min readLW link
(daviskedrosky.substack.com)

Eight Books To Read

Samo BurjaMay 14, 2019, 5:40 PM
69 points
11 comments6 min readLW link
(medium.com)

Pro­tec­tion­ism in One Coun­try: How In­dus­trial Policy Worked in Canada

Davis KedroskyJul 25, 2022, 10:08 PM
5 points
0 comments16 min readLW link
(daviskedrosky.substack.com)

Why I am not a Quaker (even though it of­ten seems as though I should be)

BenquoSep 26, 2017, 7:00 AM
48 points
18 comments16 min readLW link

Ein­stein’s Arrogance

Eliezer YudkowskySep 25, 2007, 1:29 AM
181 points
90 comments3 min readLW link

USA v Pro­gres­sive 1979 excerpt

RyanCareyNov 27, 2017, 5:32 PM
22 points
2 comments2 min readLW link

The Zom­bie Preacher of Somerset

Scott AlexanderMar 28, 2009, 10:29 PM
62 points
34 comments5 min readLW link

The Era Of Un­limited Every­thing: Un­limited Ma­te­ri­als & Un­limited Money

jdcampolargoAug 1, 2020, 3:01 AM
4 points
11 comments10 min readLW link

A map of Bay Area memespace

Julia_GalefSep 23, 2013, 5:34 PM
76 points
31 comments7 min readLW link

Fight the Power

Jacob FalkovichJun 22, 2020, 2:19 AM
23 points
3 comments7 min readLW link

Life as metaphor for ev­ery­thing else.

Charlie SteinerApr 5, 2020, 7:21 AM
29 points
11 comments4 min readLW link

Sapiens

VaniverApr 8, 2015, 2:56 AM
70 points
12 comments13 min readLW link

Epistemic Spot Check: The Dorito Effect (Mark Schatzker)

ElizabethOct 3, 2018, 5:10 PM
43 points
8 comments1 min readLW link
(acesounderglass.com)

What Botswana Can Teach Us About Poli­ti­cal Stability

Samo BurjaMay 9, 2019, 6:30 PM
40 points
4 comments1 min readLW link
(medium.com)

Epistemic Spot Check: The Fate of Rome (Kyle Harper)

ElizabethAug 24, 2019, 9:40 PM
39 points
3 comments5 min readLW link
(acesounderglass.com)

A sim­ple sketch of how re­al­ism be­came unpopular

Rob BensingerOct 11, 2019, 10:25 PM
63 points
55 comments4 min readLW link

[Question] How Old is Smal­lpox?

RaemonDec 10, 2018, 10:50 AM
44 points
5 comments2 min readLW link

The Gal­ileo af­fair: who was on the side of ra­tio­nal­ity?

ValFeb 15, 2015, 8:52 PM
48 points
71 comments7 min readLW link

Con­cepts Don’t Work That Way

lukeprogSep 28, 2011, 2:01 AM
88 points
92 comments8 min readLW link

For progress to be by ac­cu­mu­la­tion and not by ran­dom walk, read great books

MichaelVassarMar 2, 2010, 8:11 AM
84 points
117 comments3 min readLW link

We Agree: Speeches All Around!

SebastianG Jun 14, 2018, 5:53 PM
37 points
19 comments2 min readLW link

[Question] Which sci­en­tific dis­cov­ery was most ahead of its time?

Richard_NgoMay 16, 2019, 12:58 PM
38 points
14 comments1 min readLW link

times­tamp­ing through the Singularity

throwaway918119127Feb 28, 2024, 7:09 PM
−2 points
4 comments8 min readLW link

Be­hav­iorism: Be­ware An­thro­po­mor­phiz­ing Humans

Scott AlexanderJul 4, 2011, 8:40 PM
89 points
24 comments3 min readLW link

How would you take over Rome?

Scott AlexanderMar 14, 2012, 4:24 PM
48 points
202 comments1 min readLW link

Are You a So­lar De­ity?

Scott AlexanderMar 15, 2009, 7:30 PM
53 points
24 comments4 min readLW link

[Question] His­tor­i­cal fore­cast­ing: Are there ways I can get lots of data, but only up to a cer­tain date?

Eli TyreNov 21, 2019, 5:16 PM
38 points
10 comments1 min readLW link

[Question] What is a rea­son­able out­side view for the fate of so­cial move­ments?

Bird ConceptJan 4, 2019, 12:21 AM
33 points
27 comments1 min readLW link

The Ra­tion­al­ists of the 1950s (and be­fore) also called them­selves “Ra­tion­al­ists”

Owain_EvansNov 28, 2021, 8:17 PM
186 points
32 comments3 min readLW link1 review

Biol­ogy-In­spired AGI Timelines: The Trick That Never Works

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 1, 2021, 10:35 PM
158 points
142 comments65 min readLW link1 review

On first look­ing into Rus­sell’s History

Richard_NgoNov 8, 2018, 11:20 AM
23 points
6 comments5 min readLW link
(thinkingcomplete.blogspot.com)

[Question] Books on the zeit­geist of sci­ence dur­ing Lord Kelvin’s time.

HazardDec 9, 2019, 12:17 AM
30 points
8 comments1 min readLW link

Guardians of the Gene Pool

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 16, 2007, 8:08 PM
41 points
73 comments1 min readLW link

Hiroshima Day

Eliezer YudkowskyAug 6, 2008, 11:15 PM
4 points
63 comments1 min readLW link

Con­cep­tual is­sues in AI safety: the paradig­matic gap

vedevazzJun 24, 2018, 3:09 PM
33 points
0 comments1 min readLW link
(www.foldl.me)

[Link] The Greek He­lio­cen­tric Theory

[deleted]Jun 12, 2012, 5:18 PM
52 points
11 comments3 min readLW link

LA-602 vs. RHIC Review

Eliezer YudkowskyJun 19, 2008, 10:00 AM
62 points
62 comments6 min readLW link

A Med­i­cal Mys­tery: Thy­roid Hor­mones, Chronic Fa­tigue and Fibromyalgia

johnlawrenceaspdenFeb 14, 2016, 1:14 PM
43 points
166 comments23 min readLW link
No comments.