The following is a writeup (pursuant to Mingyuan's proposal) of the discussion at the Austin LW/SSC Meetup on November 16, 2019, at which we discussed six different SlateStarCodex articles. We meet every Saturday at 1:30pm - if you're in the area, come join us!

You are welcome to use the comments below to continue discussing any of the topics raised here. I also welcome meta-level feedback: How do you like this article format? What sorts of meetups lead to interesting writeups?

Disclaimer: I took pains to make it clear before, during, and after the meetup that I was taking notes for posting on LessWrong later. I do not endorse posting meetup writeups without the knowledge and consent of those present!

The Atomic Bomb Considered As Hungarian High School Science Fair Project

There was a Medium post on John von Neumann, which was discussed on Hacker News, which linked to the aforementioned SSC article on why there were lots of smart people in Budapest 1880-1920.

Who was John von Neumann? - One of the founders of computer science, founder of game theory, nuclear strategist. For all his brilliance he's fairly unknown generally. Everyone who knew him said he was an even quicker thinker than Einstein; but why didn't he achieve as much as Einstein? Perhaps because he died of cancer at 53.

Scott Alexander says: {Ashkenazi Jews are smart. Adaptations can have both up- and down-sides (e.g. sickle cell anemia / malaria resistance); likewise some genes cause genetic disorders and also intelligence. These are common in Ashkenazim.}

Jews were forced into finance because Christians weren't allowed to charge interest on loans, but it turned out interest was really useful.

Scott Alexander says: {And why this time period? Because restrictions on Jews only started being lifted just before this period, and they needed a generation or so to pass before they could be successful. And afterward, Nazis happened. Why Hungary and not Germany? Hungary has a "primate city" (Budapest), i.e. a city that's much more prominent than others in its area, so intellectuals will tend to gather there. Germany, by contrast, is less centralized.}

Simulation of idea-sharing and population density - cities are more likely to incubate ideas (Hacker News discussion). Does that mean we'll get more progress if everyone in a certain field gathers in one place? Perhaps. It's helpful to get feedback for your ideas t...

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