Alex Hill
@alexlizhill.com
Former logician. Aspiring health economist. Research fellow @lshtm-gheco.bsky.social. Thinking about philosophy, public health, econ, stats, feminism, & lots of other things!
https://alexlizhill.com
https://alexlizhill.com
This is the picture my four year old brought home for me today.
Me: lovely honey, who's it a picture of?
Her: that's me in the pink dress, and that's a dead guy
*spotting my horrified look*
Her: don't worry, he was bad
Me: lovely honey, who's it a picture of?
Her: that's me in the pink dress, and that's a dead guy
*spotting my horrified look*
Her: don't worry, he was bad
September 26, 2025 at 9:33 PM
This is the picture my four year old brought home for me today.
Me: lovely honey, who's it a picture of?
Her: that's me in the pink dress, and that's a dead guy
*spotting my horrified look*
Her: don't worry, he was bad
Me: lovely honey, who's it a picture of?
Her: that's me in the pink dress, and that's a dead guy
*spotting my horrified look*
Her: don't worry, he was bad
I know of one account! From a feminist called Finn Mackay (who calls it 'sex dysphoria' for reasons they outline in their book). As someone who has body dsymorphia it sounds quite closely related, phenomenologically. Book is Female Masculinities and the Gender Wars: The Politics of Sex.
April 15, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I know of one account! From a feminist called Finn Mackay (who calls it 'sex dysphoria' for reasons they outline in their book). As someone who has body dsymorphia it sounds quite closely related, phenomenologically. Book is Female Masculinities and the Gender Wars: The Politics of Sex.
As great as IVF is, the process of retrieving eggs still feels v inefficient: you have to incubate the eggs inside yourself, inject hormones for a fortnight and hope that the oocytes mature at a similar rate. Maturing them in vitro would be a huge improvement.
worksinprogress.co/issue/fertil...
worksinprogress.co/issue/fertil...
March 13, 2025 at 9:41 PM
As great as IVF is, the process of retrieving eggs still feels v inefficient: you have to incubate the eggs inside yourself, inject hormones for a fortnight and hope that the oocytes mature at a similar rate. Maturing them in vitro would be a huge improvement.
worksinprogress.co/issue/fertil...
worksinprogress.co/issue/fertil...
I was gifted this mug that I feel sure is offensive to women but I can't quite figure out why, or indeed, what it means at all. Are the economists the ones supplying the curves? Very confusing.
March 13, 2025 at 11:16 AM
I was gifted this mug that I feel sure is offensive to women but I can't quite figure out why, or indeed, what it means at all. Are the economists the ones supplying the curves? Very confusing.
Looking at the Mary Wollstonecraft memorial but shaking my head so everyone knows I disapprove of the naked lady.
March 7, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Looking at the Mary Wollstonecraft memorial but shaking my head so everyone knows I disapprove of the naked lady.
Daughter chose Mog the forgetful cat, an absolute classic, and I made this pretty epic tail:
March 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Daughter chose Mog the forgetful cat, an absolute classic, and I made this pretty epic tail:
The first time I read The More Loving One by W.H. Auden, I imagined it must be a sort of metaphor or allegory about loving a person, and struggled to understand it.
When I read it as straight-forwardly about relating to nature and the whole indifferent universe, I get a lot more out of it.
When I read it as straight-forwardly about relating to nature and the whole indifferent universe, I get a lot more out of it.
March 6, 2025 at 11:53 AM
The first time I read The More Loving One by W.H. Auden, I imagined it must be a sort of metaphor or allegory about loving a person, and struggled to understand it.
When I read it as straight-forwardly about relating to nature and the whole indifferent universe, I get a lot more out of it.
When I read it as straight-forwardly about relating to nature and the whole indifferent universe, I get a lot more out of it.
Honestly I know this dismantling of science and reason is depressing/alarming, but it's also just sort of comically absurd?
February 14, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Honestly I know this dismantling of science and reason is depressing/alarming, but it's also just sort of comically absurd?
The "woke grant" database is predictably idiotic, includes papers about diversity in beetles, cis-regulatory gene pathways, and brain trauma.
US gov characterises the included grants as advancing "neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda".
www.astralcodexten.com/p/only-about...
US gov characterises the included grants as advancing "neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda".
www.astralcodexten.com/p/only-about...
February 14, 2025 at 1:54 PM
The "woke grant" database is predictably idiotic, includes papers about diversity in beetles, cis-regulatory gene pathways, and brain trauma.
US gov characterises the included grants as advancing "neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda".
www.astralcodexten.com/p/only-about...
US gov characterises the included grants as advancing "neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda".
www.astralcodexten.com/p/only-about...
Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy is incredibly prevalent and I think the true health burden is poorly understood - 70% of women have NVP, half of those cases are moderate to severe, and sufferers have quality of life scores comparable to PPD, cancer & heart attack patients.
doi.org/10.1111/j.14...
doi.org/10.1111/j.14...
February 11, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy is incredibly prevalent and I think the true health burden is poorly understood - 70% of women have NVP, half of those cases are moderate to severe, and sufferers have quality of life scores comparable to PPD, cancer & heart attack patients.
doi.org/10.1111/j.14...
doi.org/10.1111/j.14...
I am so excited for the results of this ongoing trial for a novel treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum (severe pregnancy sickness) 👀 GDF15 has been identified as the major determinant of HG and this is the first trial of a GFD15-blocker in pregnant women:
www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN76681798
www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN76681798
February 11, 2025 at 11:57 AM
I am so excited for the results of this ongoing trial for a novel treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum (severe pregnancy sickness) 👀 GDF15 has been identified as the major determinant of HG and this is the first trial of a GFD15-blocker in pregnant women:
www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN76681798
www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN76681798
London is trending the same way!
January 17, 2025 at 12:50 PM
London is trending the same way!
This is such an important point when communicating health research: average effects aren't super predictive at the individual level unless variance is also small. And the standard error is often confused for the population variance.
December 20, 2024 at 1:26 PM
This is such an important point when communicating health research: average effects aren't super predictive at the individual level unless variance is also small. And the standard error is often confused for the population variance.
Mother and Child at Breaking Point (1970), by Maureen Scott
December 20, 2024 at 12:56 PM
Mother and Child at Breaking Point (1970), by Maureen Scott
Alfie's mum is such a lesbian icon fr
December 19, 2024 at 9:15 PM
Alfie's mum is such a lesbian icon fr
Trying to imagine the conversation when they decided to erect this plaque for Mary Wollstonecraft:
What was she famous for again?
Well, she founded modern feminism, and she also wrote a book about visiting Sweden...
What was she famous for again?
Well, she founded modern feminism, and she also wrote a book about visiting Sweden...
December 16, 2024 at 2:30 PM
Trying to imagine the conversation when they decided to erect this plaque for Mary Wollstonecraft:
What was she famous for again?
Well, she founded modern feminism, and she also wrote a book about visiting Sweden...
What was she famous for again?
Well, she founded modern feminism, and she also wrote a book about visiting Sweden...
Hyperbolic discounting strikes again. People who commit crimes are relatively myopic, so longer sentences won't be much of a deterrent.
December 7, 2024 at 2:45 PM
Hyperbolic discounting strikes again. People who commit crimes are relatively myopic, so longer sentences won't be much of a deterrent.
And this is the global prevalence; in some countries the difference is even more stark. In China, almost 50% of men smoke, vs only 2% of women!
December 7, 2024 at 1:00 PM
And this is the global prevalence; in some countries the difference is even more stark. In China, almost 50% of men smoke, vs only 2% of women!
Such an important question.
Incredible to see this photo of women in Cairo. My daughter's Egyptian grandmother describes going out in Cairo wearing a miniskirt in the 60s. It's hard to imagine for anyone who has spent time there recently.
Incredible to see this photo of women in Cairo. My daughter's Egyptian grandmother describes going out in Cairo wearing a miniskirt in the 60s. It's hard to imagine for anyone who has spent time there recently.
December 5, 2024 at 5:05 PM
Such an important question.
Incredible to see this photo of women in Cairo. My daughter's Egyptian grandmother describes going out in Cairo wearing a miniskirt in the 60s. It's hard to imagine for anyone who has spent time there recently.
Incredible to see this photo of women in Cairo. My daughter's Egyptian grandmother describes going out in Cairo wearing a miniskirt in the 60s. It's hard to imagine for anyone who has spent time there recently.
I enjoyed this 80000 hours podcast on belief formation and gullibility. It's a nuanced conversation but striking that the best way to change someone's mind is, in fact, to present a good argument.
December 3, 2024 at 3:05 PM
I enjoyed this 80000 hours podcast on belief formation and gullibility. It's a nuanced conversation but striking that the best way to change someone's mind is, in fact, to present a good argument.
Everyone should read this Goldin & Katz paper. They use timings of pill legalisation across states as a natural experiment, show it caused greater investment of women in higher education & later age at first marriage. 2 consequential trends for fertility.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
December 3, 2024 at 11:56 AM
Everyone should read this Goldin & Katz paper. They use timings of pill legalisation across states as a natural experiment, show it caused greater investment of women in higher education & later age at first marriage. 2 consequential trends for fertility.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Defining sex as "a multidimensional biological construct based on anatomy, physiology, genetics, and hormones" as the NIH does seems much more sensible. And still perfectly "sex-realist".
orwh.od.nih.gov/sex-gender
orwh.od.nih.gov/sex-gender
November 28, 2024 at 5:38 PM
Defining sex as "a multidimensional biological construct based on anatomy, physiology, genetics, and hormones" as the NIH does seems much more sensible. And still perfectly "sex-realist".
orwh.od.nih.gov/sex-gender
orwh.od.nih.gov/sex-gender
XX/XY mosaicism provides a reductio ad absurdum of the "chromosomal truther" position popular with gender-criticals imo.
Either people with XX and XY chromosomes are of indeterminate sex (which gcs don't want to admit possible) or their sex is determined by non-chromosomal characteristics.
Either people with XX and XY chromosomes are of indeterminate sex (which gcs don't want to admit possible) or their sex is determined by non-chromosomal characteristics.
November 28, 2024 at 5:38 PM
XX/XY mosaicism provides a reductio ad absurdum of the "chromosomal truther" position popular with gender-criticals imo.
Either people with XX and XY chromosomes are of indeterminate sex (which gcs don't want to admit possible) or their sex is determined by non-chromosomal characteristics.
Either people with XX and XY chromosomes are of indeterminate sex (which gcs don't want to admit possible) or their sex is determined by non-chromosomal characteristics.