“Monthly Roundup #34: September 2025” by Zvi

All the news that's fit to print, but has nowhere to go.

Important Rules Reminder

This important rule is a special case of an even more important rule:

Dirty Hexas Hedge: One of the old unwritten WASP rules of civilization maintenance we’ve lost is: when someone behaves insincerely for the sake of maintaining proper decorum, you respond by respecting the commitment to decorum rather than calling out the insincerity.

The general rule is to maintain good incentives and follow good decision theory. If someone is being helpful, ensure they are better off for having been helpful, even if they have previously been unhelpful and this gives you an opportunity. Reward actions you want to happen more often. Punish actions you want to happen less often. In particular beware situations where you punish clarity and reward implicitness.

Another important rule would be that contra Elon [...]

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Outline:

(00:16) Important Rules Reminder

(02:06) Bad News

(08:46) Inequality Within Salient Comparables

(13:03) Artful Dodge

(16:10) Whether Weather

(19:13) If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Happy?

(21:01) While I Cannot Condone This

(24:01) Only The Rich Are Poisoned

(26:13) China Has Declining Marginal Product Of Capital

(28:04) Good News, Everyone

(35:03) For Your Entertainment

(35:47) You're The Worst

(38:00) The Golden Age of Cinema

(41:26) Not What We Are Looking For

(46:55) Know When To Fold Em

(47:47) Gamers Gonna Game Game Game Game Game

(57:11) I Was Promised Flying Self-Driving Cars

(57:15) Waymo employees are doing rider-only mode on freeways in San Francisco (including US 101), Phoenix and Los Angeles. It's employees only for now but presumably that won't last. They are now cleared for San Jose Airport but no word on SFO.

(01:03:17) Sports Go Sports

(01:03:27) Opportunity Knocks

(01:04:53) Antisocial Media

(01:12:50) Government Working

(01:22:45) Technology Advances

(01:26:22) For Science!

(01:30:32) Variously Effective Altruism

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First published:
September 15th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ETNhvutPHZKMvk3E9/monthly-roundup-34-september-2025

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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