From the title, I was expecting something about gift giving heuristics
Me too! I used the the info you posted when I was doing my last-minute gift shopping today, so thanks!
For anyone still working on wrapping, here is an interesting little factoid:
Apparently, wrapping a gift really nicely increases expectations of the gift, which then leads to disappointment if the gift fails to live up to said expectations. It is often wise to wrap the gift poorly, or not at all. This leads to higher appreciation of the gift.
More info here.
I don't have a good link, but I recall reading that, for people one knows well enough to make educated guesses about it, the ideal gifts are things that the recipient would enjoy but would feel guilty or otherwise reluctant about spending their own money on.
Since this is the season to respect the universe as a worthy foe and remember the challenges ahead of us, it felt appropriate that I should donate some money for a good cause. Then it occurred to me, why not use the opportunity to encourage somebody else to do so as well?
So, if you promise to donate money to either the Singularity Institute or the Future of Humanity Institute before the end of the year, and pledge that you wouldn't have done so without this opportunity, then I will match your donation dollar-for-dollar. Saying "I would have donated 50 dollars without this opportunity but with it I'll donate 75" is also fine - in that case I'll match the extra 25. I'll match up to a total of 100 EUR (about 130 USD at today's rate): first-come first-served, so get your matches while they're hot. EDIT: I hit my maximum total, but curiousepic is running a matching as well, see below!
Please feel free to also declare any of your (more or less) completely unrelated donations in this thread, or to set up your own matching pledges.
Matchings:
curiousepic matches up to a total of $1000 on donations to SI, SENS, or GiveWell. (Up to $800.)
Kaj Sotala matched up to a total of $130 on donations to SI or FHI. (Up to $130.)
Matched donations:
Barry_Cotter donated $25 to SI. (matched $25 each by curiousepic, Kaj Sotala)
Daniel_Burfoot donated $100 to SI. (matched $100 each by curiousepic, Kaj Sotala)
atucker donated $12/month to SI. (matched $5 by Kaj Sotala, $144? by curiousepic)
wmorgan donated $1531 to SI. (matched $531 by curiousepic)
Non-matched donations:
Dr_Manhattan donated $100 to SI.
lincolquirk donated $700 to SI, $300 to Against Malaria Foundation.
Normal_Anomaly donated $300 to Against Malaria Foundation.