AdeleneDawner

Rationalist horoscopes: A low-hanging utility generator.

The other day, I had an idea. It occurred to me that daily horoscopes - the traditional kind - might not be as useless as they seem at first glance: They usually give, or at least hint at, suggestions for specific things to do on a given day, which can be a useful cue, allowing the user to put less effort into finding something useful to do with their time. They can also act as a reminder of important concepts, rather like spaced repetition, and have the possibility of serendipitously giving the perfect advice in a situation where the user would otherwise not have thought to apply a particular concept. This seems like something that many people here would find useful, if they weren't so vague, and if they were better calibrated to make useful suggestions. So, after getting some feedback, and with the help of PeerInfinity (who did most of the coding and is currently hosting the program), I put together a tool to provide us with a daily 'horoscope', chosen from a list provided by us and weighted toward advice that has been reported to work. The horoscopes are displayed here, with an RSS feed available here. Lists of the horoscopes in the program's database can be found here, with various sorting options. One of the features of this program is that the chance of a given horoscope being displayed are affected by how well it has worked in the past. Every day, there is an option to vote on the previous day's horoscope, rating it as 'harmful', 'useless', 'sort of useful', 'useful', or 'awesome'. The 'harmful' and 'useless' options give the horoscope -15 and -1 points respectively, while the other three give it 1, 3, or 10 points. If a horoscope's score becomes negative, it is removed from the pool of active horoscopes; otherwise, its chance of being chosen is based on the average value of the votes it has received compared to the other horoscopes, disregarding recently-used ones. There is still a need for good horoscopes to be added to the database. Horoscopes should of

80May 22, 2011

AdeleneDawner

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LW events near the Singularity Summit?

I hadn't planned on going to the Summit, but it looks like I might be in NYC on the 15th for something unrelated. I don't have specific plans for what I'm going to do with my time yet, and I'm wondering if there might be some interesting events/meetups near the...

Sep 30, 201110

'Newcomblike' Video Game: Frozen Synapse

Disregarding for the moment the question of whether video games are a rational use of one's time: Frozen Synapse is a turn based strategy combat game that appears to be particularly interesting from a rationalist standpoint. I haven't played it, but according to the reviews, it's actually a combination of...

Sep 29, 20116

[Conversation Log] Compartmentalization

(7:40:37 PM) handoflixue: Had an odd thought recently, and am trying to see if I understand the idea of compartmentalization. (7:41:08 PM) handoflixue: I've always acted in a way, whereupon if I'm playing WOW, I roleplay an elf. If I'm at church, I roleplay a unitarian. If I'm on LessWrong,...

Jul 30, 20116

For meetup groups: Restaurant gift card coupons

From here: > Restaurant.com cuts 70% off any gift certificate via coupon code "SHARE". This coupon drops most $10 dining certificates to $1.50 and $25 gift certificates to $3. Restaurant.com's gift certificates are redeemable at local restaurants across the United States. Some gift certificates have restrictions, like dinner-only or a...

Jul 6, 20118

If we're in a sim...

My father, who is home recovering from surgery, emailed the following web page to me and a few other members of my family, and expressed interest in reading interesting responses. > If We Are In A Computer Simulation > > Is the universe just a big computer simulation running in...

Jul 5, 20117

A discussion of an applictation of Bayes' theorem to everyday life

[12:49:29 AM] Conversational Partner: actually, even if the praise is honest, it makes me uncomfortable if it seems excessive. that is, repeated too often, or made a big deal about. [12:49:58 AM] Adelene Dawner: 'Seems excessive' can actually be a cue for 'is insincere'. [12:50:05 AM] Conversational Partner: oh [12:50:25...

May 29, 201115

Advice request: Homeownership

So I'm probably about two months from owning a home. (Realtor says we might close within a month; experienced friend says 3-6 weeks; I'll be vaguely surprised if it's not done by August.) This is exciting, and also more than a little daunting. My near-mode brainbits don't know quite what...

May 27, 201110

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AdeleneDawner

AdeleneDawner

AdeleneDawner

Rationalist horoscopes: A low-hanging utility generator.

A suggestion on how to get people to read the Sequences

Rationalist Horoscopes: Low-hanging utility generator?

Expectation-Based Akrasia Management

AdeleneDawner

LW events near the Singularity Summit?

'Newcomblike' Video Game: Frozen Synapse

[Conversation Log] Compartmentalization

For meetup groups: Restaurant gift card coupons

If we're in a sim...

A discussion of an applictation of Bayes' theorem to everyday life

Advice request: Homeownership

Rationalist horoscopes: A low-hanging utility generator.

A suggestion on how to get people to read the Sequences

Rationalist Horoscopes: Low-hanging utility generator?

Expectation-Based Akrasia Management

LW events near the Singularity Summit?

'Newcomblike' Video Game: Frozen Synapse

[Conversation Log] Compartmentalization

For meetup groups: Restaurant gift card coupons

If we're in a sim...

A discussion of an applictation of Bayes' theorem to everyday life

Advice request: Homeownership