LessWrong posts by zvi

“Monthly Roundup #33: August 2025” by Zvi


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I got suckered into paying attention to multiple non-AI political stories this month: The shooting of the messenger, in violation of the most sacred principles, via firing the head of the USA's Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Online Safety Bill in the UK.

As a reminder, feel no obligation whatsoever to engage with either of these.

There are tons of other things worth paying attention to that are not that.

Highly Effective Altruism

I realize philanthropy has been handed quite a few sinking ships lately, but if you exclude AI there is one crisis I would prioritize above the rest, which is mRNA.

Which is: We have entered the War on Cancer, future pandemics and other diseases on the side of cancer and future pandemics and those other diseases, because we decided to hand this power over to RFK Jr.

As Rick [...]

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Outline:

(00:36) Highly Effective Altruism

(07:06) Variously Effective Altruism

(10:39) Bad News

(15:51) Whisper Networks

(17:36) Opportunity Knocks

(19:06) Government Working

(20:45) Censorship In The UK

(45:50) Don't Shoot the Messenger

(59:57) Jones Act Watch

(01:00:12) The Incorrect Contrarian Cluster

(01:01:53) Talent Search

(01:04:19) While I Cannot Condone This

(01:11:41) Predictions Are Hard Especially About The Future

(01:14:01) Good News, Everyone

(01:15:49) For Your Entertainment

(01:19:42) Game Theory

(01:20:39) Gamers Gonna Game Game Game Game Game

(01:28:48) I Was Promised Flying Self-Driving Cars

(01:34:00) Sports Go Sports

(01:36:17) Antisocial Media

(01:41:50) Stop Deboosting Links On Twitter

(01:49:10) Technology Advances

(01:52:35) The Lighter Side

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:

August 19th, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Sqrt2FC3c45QpX3Au/monthly-roundup-33-august-2025

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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