Newsletter comparison
Astral Codex Ten vs Experimental History
Short answer: Choose Astral Codex Ten for broad synthesis and debate. Choose Experimental History for original behavioral experiments. Read both when the big argument should remain accountable to what a focused study can actually show.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
An independent guide. Scottie isn't affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Astral Codex Ten and Experimental History. Each publication owns its name, writing, and subscription terms.
A brief from both newsletters · July 31, 2026
See both newsletters in one brief
See what made the brief, what didn't, and the original links behind every included story.
In this brief: Scottie kept the selected stories separate because they added different value.
Reader priorities
A reader wants detailed psychology and social-science arguments alongside original experiments that can confirm, complicate, or challenge them.
These are illustrative priorities, not a customer’s data.
What made the brief
- Astral Codex Ten20 read · 4 included
- Experimental History2 read · 1 included
Scottie
Scottie example brief
July 31, 2026 · Executive brief
01 / The rundown
- Social psychology replication failures do not invalidate broader cognitive science, as core experimental disciplines remain empirically sound and reliable.
- Declines in youth risk behaviors since 1995 stem primarily from rising economic prosperity rather than modern smartphone or internet usage.
- Happiness grows logarithmically with long-term economic output, explaining why modern wealth gains produce steady but modest improvements in satisfaction.
02 / The briefing
01 / main
Psychology Is Not Broken Just Social Priming Failed
The takeaway: Critics often dismiss psychology as a failed science, but the replication crisis mostly isolated social priming and social psychology. Out of sixteen chapters in standard introductory textbooks, fifteen cover established fields like cognitive psychology, psychopharmacology, and psychometrics without severe replication failures.
Concrete details
- Social priming accounts for just 0.05% to 0.2% of active psychology researchers across the entire discipline.
- Sasha Putilin failed to replicate a study claiming EEG brainwave synchronization doubles human learning speeds.
Why it matters for this reader: As a reader analyzing psychology arguments, you can distinguish flawed social priming experiments from rigorous cognitive and psychometric studies when evaluating experimental claims.
Original sourcesAstral Codex Ten
02 / main
Youth Risk Taking Declined Decades Before Smartphones Took Over
The takeaway: Teen drinking, smoking, and crime rates dropped sharply since 1995, driven by rising prosperity rather than internet usage. Because smartphone adoption occurred after 2010, digital technology merely accelerated existing cultural convergence rather than triggering the original decline in deviance.
Concrete details
- High school drinking dropped from 50% in 1995, while smoking fell from 35% and weapon carrying dropped from 10%.
- A majority of Americans lacked broadband access until 2007, and smartphone adoption reached critical mass around 2012.
Why it matters for this reader: You can evaluate how economic prosperity alters social behavior, testing whether cultural homogenization stems from digital incentives or material security.
Original sourcesExperimental History
03 / main
Liberal Frameworks Reject Blaming Free Speech For Political Violence
The takeaway: The concept of stochastic terrorism attempts to blame harsh political commentary for acts of violence committed by independent individuals. Liberal democratic theory places complete responsibility on the physical perpetrator while protecting broad criticism, preserving critical early warnings against tyrannical authority.
Concrete details
- Recent polling indicates that 39% of young people hold a favorable opinion of high-profile shooter Luigi Mangione.
- American legal standards restrict direct incitement while allowing severe political criticism against both institutions and prominent figures.
Why it matters for this reader: You can apply this social-science framework when examining political discourse, separating legitimate speech protections from direct legal incitement.
Original sourcesAstral Codex Ten
04 / main
Wealth Increases Happiness Logarithmically Over Centurial Time Horizons
The takeaway: Modern dissatisfaction does not mean liberal capitalism failed, as subjective happiness scales linearly with logarithmic income growth. Economic expansion since medieval times has added roughly three points on a ten-point happiness scale, though shocks like the 2020 pandemic cause temporary drops.
Concrete details
- Output per capita increased 225-fold since 1000 AD, raising predicted national happiness from 3/10 to 6.5/10 today.
- Subjective life satisfaction correlates with logarithmic income across a range of 0.98 to 0.99 in large samples.
Why it matters for this reader: This empirical log-linear model provides concrete quantitative data to test whether modern social dissatisfaction stems from political systems or economic disruptions.
Original sourcesAstral Codex Ten
05 / main
Lobotomies Persisted Until Pharmaceutical Alternatives Replaced Surgical Brain Mutilation
The takeaway: Psychiatrists performed tens of thousands of lobotomies in mid-century America due to severe hospital overcrowding and a lack of effective therapies. The practice ended not from ethical outrage, but because the 1954 approval of chlorpromazine provided a cheaper alternative.
Concrete details
- Surgeons performed roughly 50,000 lobotomies in the United States, including 10,000 ten-minute transorbital ice-pick procedures.
- In 1948, American psychiatric hospitals suffered over 50% overcrowding while 29 facilities operated without a single staff psychiatrist.
Why it matters for this reader: This historical case study illustrates how institutional incentives and severe resource shortages can drive adoption of unproven medical interventions.
Original sourcesAstral Codex Ten
Action items
- Audit recent social priming citations in your reading list to separate social psychology claims from sound cognitive experiments.
- Evaluate behavioral trends in your research by comparing pre-2007 economic indicators against post-smartphone digital adoption timelines.
See every issue behind this brief
Psychology Research Replication Crisis
- Psychology Research Is Mostly FineAstral Codex Ten · Included
The Decline of Deviance and Risk-Taking
- The Decline of Deviance 2Experimental History · Included
Examining Stochastic Terrorism
- Against "Stochastic Terrorism"Astral Codex Ten · Included
Blog Jamboree winners
- Blog Jamboree 2026: The WinnersExperimental History · Read, not included
Liberalism and Personal Happiness
- Contra Pritchard On Liberal HappinessAstral Codex Ten · Included
AI superforecasting
- The AI Superforecasters Are HereAstral Codex Ten · Read, not included
Aid work in Kabul
- Your Book Review: Breakdown In PakistanAstral Codex Ten · Read, not included
History and Practice of Lobotomies
- Your Book Review: Great And Desperate CuresAstral Codex Ten · Included
OpenAI AI security
- Highlights From The Discourse On The Hugging Face IncidentAstral Codex Ten · Read, not included
OpenAI cyber attack
- The Hugging Face IncidentAstral Codex Ten · Read, not included
AI chip regulation
- AI Chip Regulation Is Not A Dystopian Surveillance StateAstral Codex Ten · Read, not included
Plan A AI proposal
- Introducing Plan AAstral Codex Ten · Read, not included
Etymology links
- Links For July 2026 (Part 2)Astral Codex Ten · Read, not included
Open thread
- Hidden Open Thread 444.5Astral Codex Ten · Read, not included
- Open Thread 444Astral Codex Ten · Read, not included
- Open Thread 443Astral Codex Ten · Read, not included
- Open Thread 442Astral Codex Ten · Read, not included
- Hidden Open Thread 440.5Astral Codex Ten · Read, not included
Jeremy Bentham etymology
- Links For July 2026 (Part 1)Astral Codex Ten · Read, not included
Skewed boogeymen
- Six Slightly Skew BoogeymenAstral Codex Ten · Read, not included
Book of Abraham review
- Your Book Review: The Book Of AbrahamAstral Codex Ten · Read, not included
AI safety grants
- Open Thread 441Astral Codex Ten · Read, not included
The useful difference
The difference that matters
Astral Codex Ten develops long syntheses, critiques, and open discussion around research claims. Experimental History produces narrower original experiments and methodological accounts.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
What each is best for
Astral Codex Ten
Astral Codex Ten contributes detailed essays, literature discussion, critique, and visible uncertainty around psychology and social science.[1][2][3]
Experimental History
Experimental History contributes original studies, replications, and candid explanations of design choices and methodological limits.[4][5][6]
When it’s worth reading both
Scottie can group a shared research question while keeping synthesis and original evidence distinct and retaining explicit disagreement.[1][2][3][4][5][6]