# The Slate Star Codex Essentials

Twenty essential Slate Star Codex essays picked by Tenobrus, grouped into four loose themes — each capped with a piece of fiction. Around 75,000 words in total. A starting point for an archive of 1,500+ posts.

Curated by Tenobrus (@tenobrus) (https://x.com/tenobrus/status/2084394999060557934). 20 essays · ~7 hours of reading.

Track your progress through this list: https://www.evergreenessays.com/list/ssc-essentials

## Essays

### Moloch & Coordination

1. [Meditations On Moloch](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/) (2014-07-30) — 64 min
2. [In Favor of Niceness, Community, and Civilization](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/02/23/in-favor-of-niceness-community-and-civilization/) (2014-02-23) — 28 min
3. [Considerations On Cost Disease](https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/02/09/considerations-on-cost-disease/) (2017-02-09) — 30 min
4. [Nobody Is Perfect, Everything Is Commensurable](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/19/nobody-is-perfect-everything-is-commensurable/) (2014-12-19) — 16 min
5. [The Goddess of Everything Else](https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/08/17/the-goddess-of-everything-else-2/) (2015-08-17) — 11 min [fiction]

### Tribes & Discourse

6. [I Can Tolerate Anything Except The Outgroup](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup/) (2014-09-30) — 39 min
7. [The Toxoplasma Of Rage](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/12/17/the-toxoplasma-of-rage/) (2014-12-17) — 28 min
8. [Different Worlds](https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/10/02/different-worlds/) (2017-10-02) — 20 min
9. [Kolmogorov Complicity And The Parable Of Lightning](https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/10/23/kolmogorov-complicity-and-the-parable-of-lightning/) (2017-10-23) — 16 min
10. [Sort By Controversial](https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/10/30/sort-by-controversial/) (2018-10-30) — 21 min [fiction]

### Categories & Epistemology

11. [The Categories Were Made For Man, Not Man For The Categories](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/11/21/the-categories-were-made-for-man-not-man-for-the-categories/) (2014-11-21) — 24 min
12. [[REPOST] Epistemic Learned Helplessness](https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/06/03/repost-epistemic-learned-helplessness/) (2019-06-03) — 7 min
13. [The Control Group Is Out Of Control](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-out-of-control/) (2014-04-28) — 21 min
14. [Against Tulip Subsidies](https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/06/06/against-tulip-subsidies/) (2015-06-06) — 11 min
15. [Book Review: Seeing Like A State](https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/16/book-review-seeing-like-a-state/) (2017-03-16) — 50 min
16. [Universal Love, Said The Cactus Person](https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/04/21/universal-love-said-the-cactus-person/) (2015-04-21) — 13 min [fiction]

### Mortality & Compassion

17. [Who By Very Slow Decay](https://slatestarcodex.com/2013/07/17/who-by-very-slow-decay/) (2013-07-17) — 18 min
18. [The Parable Of The Talents](https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/01/31/the-parable-of-the-talents/) (2015-01-31) — 27 min
19. [Burdens](https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/08/16/burdens/) (2014-08-16) — 7 min
20. [Answer to Job](https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/03/15/answer-to-job/) (2015-03-15) — 6 min [fiction]