Sort by Controversial / Scissor Statements by SlateStarCodex

  • This short story helped me understand the current media and social media climate better than anything else I’ve read
  • If you liked the above short-fiction, an unofficial supplemental non-fiction post from the same author:


  • This question was posed on Reddit a few months back and got some excellent responses. The team at Quid summarized those answers here. The two most popular responses: Vaping and hearing loss from headphones. A lot of other interesting responses as well, such as “pre-workout drinks” (who remembers the original Jack3d?), sleep deprivation, the loss of the ability to focus for extended periods of time (screw you, Facebook), a lack of Children’s play leading to development and socialization issues, and many more!

We Shouldn't Always Feel Comfortable: Why 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Matters

  • "A good education should, inherently, cause us discomfort. Part of the "enlightening experience" built into the definition of the word "education" itself is shining light into the darkness of our own ignorance. When has that ever felt good?"
  • Change is difficult, but it's all around us and it is not slowing down.  If anything, people make the argument that the rate of change is actually speeding up all around us.
  • "A person's success in life can be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have." - Tim Ferriss(?)

However, free speech doesn't mean that I can't show you the door

On Culture’s That Build

  • "First, the TLDR version:  In the 21st century, the main question in American social life is not "how do we make that happen?" but "how do we get management to take our side?" This is a learned response, and a culture which has internalized it will not be a culture that "builds.”"
  • Even now both the Party and the state bureaucracies that canvas the Chinese hinterland are highly decentralized; these government and Party units are given a great deal of room for experimentation and in many realms are practically independent from outside control. This causes endless frustration to centralizers in Beijing, but the benefits are clear: it is not wrong to think of these units as "labs of communism." Various scholars have suggested that the decentralized nature of the CPC's regime explains both its longevity and its ability to foster strong economic growth.[10]

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