Astral Codex Ten

Open Thread 210

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Open Thread 210

This is the weekly visible open thread. Odd-numbered open threads will be no-politics, even-numbered threads will be politics-allowed. This one is even-numbered, so go wild - or post about whatever else you want.

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This is the weekly visible open thread. Odd-numbered open threads will be no-politics, even-numbered threads will be politics-allowed. This one is even-numbered, so go wild - or post about whatever else you want. Also: 1: We now have a “report comment” button! If someone posts a terrible comment, click the three dots after “Reply”: …and choose “Report Comment” on the menu. This will send it to me so I can check if it merits a banning. Remember, ACX rules are that comments should be at least two of polite, relevant, and plausibly-true-according-to-me. This means I do not generally delete comments for being false (ie “misinformation”) unless they are also rude or irrelevant. However, I may also unprincipledly delete comments that bring shame and/or negative media attention upon this blog, depending on how much shame and negative media attention I’m up for that particular day. And I may occasionally delete comments I think are stupid and lowering the average level of debate. 2: Some updates to my Predictions for 2022 , especially relevant if you’re playing in the related contest : First, I misinterpreted Matt Yglesias’ question about a Q4 2021 recession as being about a Q4 2022 recession, so my prediction on it is dumb and you should ignore it - for your own contest entries, please predict the Q4 2021 recession, as Matt did. Second, for unclear reasons I gave the wrong current floor value for Bored Apes; I will be judging the prediction on whether they end up lower than the real floor price as of last week ($320K), not whether they end up lower than the false number I gave. Sam and Eric can weigh in on how they’re going to judge this in the contest. 3: Somebody sent in an ACX Grant application saying they didn’t want any money, but they wanted data on my grantmaking process for their study on what makes teams succeed. I took this out of my pile intending to come back to it after the grants round, and then I lost it. If that was you, please send me an email at scott@slatestarcodex.com reminding me what I can do for you. 4: Remember, if you won an ACX Grant I am willing to provide updates and advertisements for your project on Open Threads. ACX Grants winner Yoram Bauman writes: One paragraph summary of Jan 2022 progress on climate24x7 (advancing smart climate efforts in the legislature and/or via 2024 ballot measures in at least 7 states): In Nebraska , climate-concerned R state senator John McCollister introduced LB944 , a short 3-page bill that cuts the regressive 5.5% state sales tax rate on electricity once electric utilities hit certain carbon intensity targets; see these one-pagers . We have a page of potential improvements based feedback from utility folks and others and are anticipating a public hearing in late February or early March. A similar idea is making progress in South Dakota , where a D legislator has expressed interest in similar legislation, and in Arizona , where I’ve hired Autumn Johnson of Tierra Strategy to pursue this; we’ve written one-pagers and draft legislation , she’s gotten fairly positive feedback from utilities, enviros, and legislative staff, and we’re doing our best to find a House member to introduce legislation before the cut-off of Friday Feb 4. In Utah we continue to work on the signature-gathering plan for the Clean The Darn Air 2024 ballot measure effort; we also anticipate the introduction of a similar bill in this year’s legislative session. Also trying to push forward with ideas or exploratory conversations in Colorado , Georgia , Massachusetts , and Michigan . Additional funding would help extend Autumn’s contract and help push forward faster in Nebraska, South Dakota, and elsewhere! From Yoram Bauman ( yoram@standupeconomist.com , @standupecon) 5: In the comment section of Why Do I Suck? , someone linked this Scholars’ Stage post on Why Public Intellectuals Have Short Shelf Lives , which I found interesting.