“Society Explained: a new tool for efficiently exploring >100 theories of society” by spencerg

There are many competing theories of how society does and should function, from Karl Marx and Adam Smith to Steven Pinker and Eliezer Yudkowsky. Which of these theories are correct (or which elements of them are) may matter a lot if we're seeking to change society for the better. However, these theories are often hard to understand - you may need to read an entire book (or dozens of articles) to feel like you get the key claims of a single theory. At Clearer Thinking, we just launched a new tool called Society Explained to make understanding key ideas from these theories much faster and easier. The way it works is that you simply pick from over 100 thinkers, and then get to see the key causal claims that they are making laid out in a visual diagram format, with explanations alongside that make it easy to understand what the key elements are and how they connect together. If you're curious to try it, click here (it's free). --- First published: June 3rd, 2026 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/PNADjwhywMqr5F82K/society-explained-a-new-tool-for-efficiently-exploring --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.