Fundamental Uncertainty, my book about why it’s so hard to know the truth, came out in print May 15th. In honor of its release, I’m running an essay contest between now and August 1st with a $2,000 prize pool. First prize is $1,000, with $500 for each of two runners-up.

To enter, write an original essay between 500 and 5,000 words that reviews, responds to, critiques, extends, or otherwise engages with the themes of Fundamental Uncertainty. Essays should reference the book by name and include a link to fundamentaluncertainty.com. Publish your essay somewhere public, like on Substack, LessWrong, Medium, or your personal blog. Comment on this blog post (either the version on uncertainupdates.com or lesswrong.com) before 11:59 pm, August 1st, anywhere on Earth, with a link to your post to enter. Limit one entry per person, no purchase necessary, void where prohibited.

I’ll read the essays and decide which ones I think are best, with winners to be announced on or about August 15th. While there’s no formal scoring rubric, I’ll be considering factors like clarity of writing, quality of thinking, originality, depth of engagement, and how much the essay made me think. Some examples of essays I’d be excited to see include:

An ACX-style book review that distills the book’s main ideas for a wider audience.
Applications of the book’s thesis to new domains (like the sections of Chapter 8 are).
An exploration of related ideas and how they connect back to the book’s themes.
A literature review that connects the ideas in the book with ideas from other sources.
A critique that convinces me the book’s thesis or one of its central arguments is wrong.

I look forward to reading your submissions! Full contest rules follow.

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Fundamental Uncertainty Essay Contest — Official Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Purchase of the book Fundamental Uncertainty in any format is not required to enter or win. A purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Full text of the book may be read online at https://fundamentaluncertainty.com/.

1. Sponsor

This contest (the “Contest”) is sponsored by Gordon Seidoh Worley (the “Sponsor”), an individual residing in San Francisco, California, USA. Contact: gworley3@gmail.com.

2. Eligibility

The Contest is open to individuals who, as of the date of entry, are:

At least 18 years of age (or the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence, whichever is greater); a

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Nikon Maer

Nikon Maer