21 Comments

I will be using this list to find new Substacks to subscribe to. Thank you Michael.

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Dec 19, 2023Liked by Michael Magoon

You might want to consider Austin Vernon as well, some posts are very appropriate for the area

https://austinvernon.site/index.html

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author

Thanks for the tip. I had not heard of Austin Vernon. I just did a quick scan of the post titles and gave him a sub, but I think for the purposes of this list I would like to keep it confined to those who:

1) Openly declare themselves members of the Progress Studies movement, or

2) The bulk of their posts are explicitly about progress, or

3) Have written a book on progress.

But I am fine with anyone using this comments section to recommend Substack columns that readers who are interested in progress might want to follow as well.

Thanks again.

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Great list. I hope to write my way out of the “less active” section soon!

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Jan 12Liked by Michael Magoon

I have followed the field of Progress Studies from its inception, and feel many (although not all) of my posts are applicable, for instance:

https://affablyevil.substack.com/p/meta-regulations

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author

Hello Daniel,

Thanks for commenting.

Do you expect that Progress Studies is going to be a significant percentage of your future posts (say over 25%)?

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Jan 12Liked by Michael Magoon

Broadly speaking, yes - I particularly enjoy writing about the design of institutions, how incentives can function to encourage progress, and how capitalism creates prosperity.

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author

Sounds good. Welcome to the club!

I will add you to the list soon.

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author

Stephen Pinker just retweeted this post on Twitter.

Let me know if you fellow Progress researchers all see an increase in traffic and subscribers as a result.

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Jan 12·edited Jan 12Author

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution just reposted this link!

If you are a Progress Studies researcher on this list, please let me know in the Comments if you got a big jump in subscribers today and in the next few days. I believe this kind of marketing for the entire Progress Studies community is exactly what we need to grow as a community.

But first I want to verify that the post has the desired result of many new subscribers.

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Dominic Cummings substack

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If you're interested in progress, try the weekly Here Comes China blog, https://herecomeschina.substack.com/.

It tracks China's progress in eleven categories, from economics to geopolitics. From 2023:

China created the first graphene semiconductor. It cuts power use by 90%, inter alia.

New gene therapy ‘cures’ thalassaemia

Injections reverse autism symptoms 

Hydrogen therapy reverses aging

Single-dose, dry inhalable aerosol vaccine blocks viral infection

Sailuotong improves pre-Alzheimer’s memory and functionality. 

Drug treats aggressive nasopharyngeal cancer.

TCM Shexiang Baoxin pill treats atherosclerosis, enhances blood vessel growth, reduces inflammatory reactions and reduces plaque. 

42% of China is wilderness, home to 3,400 Przewalski's gazelles, 5,000 Golden snub-nosed monkeys, 70,000 Tibetan antelopes, 1200 Snow Leopards.

Giant Rice hybrid has bumper crop.

Wind powers 15% of China's energy.

Gasoline demand peaked in 2023. Diesel peaks this year.

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author

Thanks for the tip.

China right now is a fascinating case. Clear progress for 30 years, but now it is looking pretty shaky. I don’t like to make predictions of the future, but I am sure glad that I do not live in China now.

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Shaky? GDP grew $1.6 trillion, more than the ROW combined, and will repeat that this year. Home ownership hit 96%, wages rose 5.4%, and the country dominates all the sciences and most technologies.

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I write @The Weekly Anthropocene, about ecomodernist progress on environmental issues!

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author

Thanks, Sam

It is a bit of a judgment call on my part, but I think Eco-Modernism is a little outside the field of Progress Studies. I am happy to leave your comment here so people who are interested in that topic can follow you.

I have a series of posts on Eco-Modernism planned in the future, but it may take we while to actually publish it.

Take care.

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Gonna add mine too:

https://www.writingruxandrabio.com/

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author

Can you honestly say Yes to either:

1) I consider myself a member of the Progress Studies.

2) I plan to write many future posts about human material progress?

It is fine write about other topics as well, but I want make sure that it is going to be focus.

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Seems the FT considers me so

“Ruxandra Teslo, one of a growing community of progress-focused writers at the nexus of science, economics and policy, argues that the growing scepticism around technology and the rise in zero-sum thinking in modern society is one of the defining ideological challenges of our time.”

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Impressive, but can you say Yes to either of the above?

Glad that you are getting coverage for progress-related ideas!

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