It might be a good idea to suggest alternative courses in each. For example, the Strength test is mostly a test of ability to access weightlifting equipment.
Suggestions (programming and finance already look fine to me):
Strength: do series of 10 pushups, on 8 separate days within 1 months
Endurance: swim 500 m without stopping
Social: initiate a conversation with someone you know and obtain additional information (e-mail address, IM addresses, telephone number, postal address, birthday, family composition). Do that at least 10 times in 1 month, with at least two different people.
Self control: fast for 48 hours, with food accessible at all times. Do that twice in six months. (Might be medically stupid for a lot of people.)
Memory: memorize the list of all rulers of the place you live in at least 200 years back (if your country is younger and you can’t find an obvious historical candidate, default to US presidents).
Cooking: deep-fry, stir-fry, and grill (not necessarily on separate days) a vegetable of your choosing
Suggestions for new items:
Creativity: write 500 words in one sitting, or sketch 5 drawings in one month, or...something about music? The goal here is “make a thing that is pretty, and then keep doing it”.
Games: pick a sport or game with a formal ranking system, and reach the rank right above “complete beginner”. Examples: yellow belt (in most of the world) for judo, Elo 1200 for chess, 27th kyu for go. Maybe add a condition like “Pros in that game must exist”?
I want to add something related to niceness/kindness/altruism. (I’ve met a really nice devout Christian, and the superiority of our ingroup is threatened. Let’s outnice him into the ground and send him home crying!) For level 1 a condition like “Offer help two at least three different people at least 10 times in a month” sounds good—if the condition involves actually helping, there’s too much risk of forcing unwanted help on people.
Self-control: Buy a bag of candy or similar superstimulus-ey multi-portion food item. Leave it in a place where you will see it at least three times a day. Go a week without eating any of it.
Creativity: Make 5 art cards that explore a theme.
discipline: set yourself (and meet) a regular commitment that must be completed at least twice per week (examples include household chores or a new exercise routine).
endurance: cycle 10km without stopping
social: join a new social group with > 15 people regularly attending (see meetup.com for many examples). Within a month, learn+memorise the names of 15 members.
Great, thanks for the suggestions! Though it seems really hard to make the difficulty of the alternative courses match the original ones closely enough, e.g. your strength requirement is much easier than the current one, endurance is much harder, social is easier...
Creativity: “5 drawings” is too vague for someone who doesn’t know how to draw (how much is one drawing?), but writing 500 words in one sitting is a great idea and I’m taking it!
Games: I like the suggestion, and would prefer to start with just chess. No idea how much work is reasonable to ask from a beginner, though.
It might be a good idea to suggest alternative courses in each. For example, the Strength test is mostly a test of ability to access weightlifting equipment.
Suggestions (programming and finance already look fine to me):
Strength: do series of 10 pushups, on 8 separate days within 1 months
Endurance: swim 500 m without stopping
Social: initiate a conversation with someone you know and obtain additional information (e-mail address, IM addresses, telephone number, postal address, birthday, family composition). Do that at least 10 times in 1 month, with at least two different people.
Self control: fast for 48 hours, with food accessible at all times. Do that twice in six months. (Might be medically stupid for a lot of people.)
Memory: memorize the list of all rulers of the place you live in at least 200 years back (if your country is younger and you can’t find an obvious historical candidate, default to US presidents).
Cooking: deep-fry, stir-fry, and grill (not necessarily on separate days) a vegetable of your choosing
Suggestions for new items:
Creativity: write 500 words in one sitting, or sketch 5 drawings in one month, or...something about music? The goal here is “make a thing that is pretty, and then keep doing it”.
Games: pick a sport or game with a formal ranking system, and reach the rank right above “complete beginner”. Examples: yellow belt (in most of the world) for judo, Elo 1200 for chess, 27th kyu for go. Maybe add a condition like “Pros in that game must exist”?
I want to add something related to niceness/kindness/altruism. (I’ve met a really nice devout Christian, and the superiority of our ingroup is threatened. Let’s outnice him into the ground and send him home crying!) For level 1 a condition like “Offer help two at least three different people at least 10 times in a month” sounds good—if the condition involves actually helping, there’s too much risk of forcing unwanted help on people.
Self-control: Buy a bag of candy or similar superstimulus-ey multi-portion food item. Leave it in a place where you will see it at least three times a day. Go a week without eating any of it.
Creativity: Make 5 art cards that explore a theme.
I have no stove or oven.
I can run a 6 minute mile.
I cannot really ride a bicycle. Swimming...well, better than biking, at least.
Alternatives will almost always be needed.
Yes, I love the idea of alternatives.
discipline: set yourself (and meet) a regular commitment that must be completed at least twice per week (examples include household chores or a new exercise routine).
endurance: cycle 10km without stopping
social: join a new social group with > 15 people regularly attending (see meetup.com for many examples). Within a month, learn+memorise the names of 15 members.
Great, thanks for the suggestions! Though it seems really hard to make the difficulty of the alternative courses match the original ones closely enough, e.g. your strength requirement is much easier than the current one, endurance is much harder, social is easier...
Creativity: “5 drawings” is too vague for someone who doesn’t know how to draw (how much is one drawing?), but writing 500 words in one sitting is a great idea and I’m taking it!
Games: I like the suggestion, and would prefer to start with just chess. No idea how much work is reasonable to ask from a beginner, though.
Altruism: icks me out :-)