ClaimsScott Alexander

“Of 80% predictions, I got 10 right and 3 wrong, for a score of 77%”

Scott Alexander, blogger 22 January 2019 2018 Predictions: Calibration Results (Slate Star Codex) archived copy

Factual Their own work or organisation

Of his 2018 predictions at 80%, Scott Alexander got 10 right and 3 wrong, a score of 77%.

Unresolvable The public record could not settle it.

Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?

The evidence is the person's or their organisation's own records.

What would count as true or false

True if Scott Alexander's 2018 predictions and his January 2019 grading post show 10 correct and 3 incorrect at the 80% confidence level (10/13 ≈ 77%). Mostly true if the post reports these figures but a recount of the original list differs by one prediction, or if the percentage is only slightly mis-rounded. Mixed if the counts differ by two. Mostly false if the post reports a different tally at 80%, or the numbers apply to a different confidence level. False if the counts are clearly different (e.g. off by more than two). Any later correction he published governs.

Set before the research began.

Evidence (3)

  1. E1 Predictions For 2018 Slate Star Codex · 6 February 2018 Own record

    “2. Democrats take control of the House in midterms: 80%”
  2. E2 Predictions For 2018 Slate Star Codex · 6 February 2018 Own record

    “34. No co-bloggers make 3 or more SSC posts this year: 80%”
  3. E3 Predictions For 2018 Slate Star Codex · 6 February 2018 Own record

    “Chance of Trump’s approval not breaking 50% probably closer to 95% than 90%.”

Reasoning

E1 and E2 quote two separate predictions at the 80% level from Scott Alexander's 2018 predictions post, and E3 is a note about a different confidence level. None of the evidence gives the full list of 80% predictions, how each one turned out, or the tally in the January 2019 grading post. Without those, the claimed 10 right and 3 wrong (77%) cannot be checked or recounted.

Cite this claim

Scott Alexander, “Of his 2018 predictions at 80%, Scott Alexander got 10 right and 3 wrong, a score of 77%.” (said 22 January 2019). Verdict: unresolvable. Reliability API, claim c_5c102e4cbc32, method 0.1.0+8bea457b, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_5c102e4cbc32

This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.

Reply to this claim

For Scott Alexander, or someone speaking for them: a correction or counter-evidence. Replies are read before anything is shown; an approved reply shows your name, role, date, statement and link. Your email address is never shown and is deleted 30 days after the decision (privacy).

More factual claims by Scott Alexander

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    “Reader Nikita Sokolsky has completed his work getting some extra Fatima documents from Portugal and translating them into English.”

    Reader Nikita Sokolsky has finished obtaining extra Fatima documents from Portugal and translating them into English.

  2. Resolved true Factual 5 October 2026
    “Rob Ennals, who made this year’s book review contest site, has gathered the reviews from earlier years into epubs here.”

    Rob Ennals, who made this year's ACX book review contest site, has gathered reviews from earlier years into epubs.

  3. Resolved true Factual 10 December 2024
    “There’s a good interview with Skarbek in last month’s issue of Asterisk, I think it will be online shortly.”

    Last month's issue of Asterisk (November 2024) contains an interview with Skarbek, which Scott thinks will be online shortly.

  4. Resolved true Factual 20 February 2023
    “Things felt so fuzzy that I (partly) abandoned my usual clear-resolution probabilistic predictions for total guesses.”

    In 2018 Scott Alexander partly abandoned his usual clear-resolution probabilistic predictions for rough guesses in his five-year predictions.

  5. Resolved true Factual 14 March 2022
    “Also last month, I suggested Manifold Markets have a loan feature to help boost investment in long-term markets.”

    In February 2022 Scott Alexander suggested that Manifold Markets add a loan feature to boost investment in long-term markets.

All of them

Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.