Rationality power tools
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A Rationality power tool is a computer program that assists with rationality, either epistemic or instrumental. They are not games - power tools are tools, and have the flexibility to be applied to multiple situations while guiding or enhancing their users' power to win or "improve their understanding."
Existing tools
Coordinated efforts
- BitCoin – Cryptocurrency
- ChipIn – For raising funding for projects.
- ThePoint – Non-financial coordination.
- KickStarter – For raising funding for projects. Donations are collected only if a certain threshold is reached.
Debate tools
Main article: Debate tools
- TakeOnIt – A database of expert opinion.
- Omnilibrium
Greasemonkey scripts and proxies
These programs change the behavior or appearance of websites.
Prediction tracking
- PredictionBook – "a site to record and track your predictions."
Prediction markets
- Foresight Exchange – Free website; a funny-money prediction market, ancestor of Consensus Point and The Idea Futures package
- Intrade – Real money prediction market
- ipredict – New Zealand based prediction market.
- Zocalo – software to set up a prediction market
Mathematical
- Gambit – "Gambit is a set of software tools for doing computation on finite, noncooperative games."
- R – General-purpose open-source cross-platform statistical language with a staggering array of user-contributed and actively developed add-on packages.
- BUGS – "Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling"
- Guesstimate – Create models and Fermi estimates with probability distributions
Time management
- Org-mode – for Emacs. "org-mode can do clocking (to see how long I'm spending on tasks), all kinds of reminders, todo-lists and can even check which of my 'projects' currently don't have a NextAction defined" - djcb
Document savers
Discussed in "Avoid interruptions by time-shifting them"
Spaced repetition
Spaced repetition is a method for memorizing important material.
- Anki – Has sets created by Divia related to the sequences. Multiplatform including iPhone.
- jMemorize – Java based.
Personal data tallying/Self experimentation
- Daytum
- your.flowingdata – Tracks items via Twitter
- Beeminder
- Double Blinded – Self-double blinded tests as a service
Other
- Actually Useful Horoscopes – introduced in Rationalist horoscopes: A low-hanging utility generator.
- Less Wrong Study Hall – A place for people to work alongside other Less Wrongers. Described in more detail here.
- Clearer Thinking – hosts a variety of guided exercises for decision making, reducing biases, and self-improvement.
- Mechanical Turk and Fiverr – can be used for certain simple tasks that you would pay for.
Defunct
- [Wrong Tomorrow http://lesswrong.com/lw/z1/wrong_tomorrow/]
In development
- whpearson is working on a Control Market
Proposed
- DilGreen has proposed a Structured Agreement Tool for the development of communities around propositions.
- Canonizer already implements most of the features described in this proposal