Exercises / Problem-Sets

TagLast edit: 9 Feb 2021 10:06 UTC by Yoav Ravid

This tag collects posts with concrete exercises. Problems that have solutions (or least some clear feedback loop). Things that you can attempt yourself in order to learn and grow.

Related Pages: Games (posts describing)

Exercises in Comprehensive Information Gathering

johnswentworth15 Feb 2020 17:27 UTC

141 points

18 comments3 min readLW link 1 review

[Question] Babble challenge: 50 ways of sending something to the moon

jacobjacob1 Oct 2020 4:20 UTC

94 points

114 comments2 min readLW link 1 review

D&D.SCP: Anomalous Acquisitions

aphyer12 Feb 2022 16:03 UTC

45 points

25 comments9 min readLW link

Rationality Exercises Prize of September 2019 ($1,000)

Ben Pace11 Sep 2019 0:19 UTC

89 points

18 comments5 min readLW link

Topological Fixed Point Exercises

Scott Garrabrant and SamEisenstat

17 Nov 2018 1:40 UTC

71 points

51 comments3 min readLW link

Prompts for Big-Picture Planning

Raemon13 Apr 2024 3:04 UTC

72 points

1 comment3 min readLW link

2021 New Year Optimization Puzzles

Scott Garrabrant31 Dec 2020 8:22 UTC

19 points

33 comments2 min readLW link

Reframing Impact

TurnTrout20 Sep 2019 19:03 UTC

98 points

15 comments1 min readLW link 1 review

Hammertime Final Exam

alkjash22 Mar 2018 1:10 UTC

40 points

25 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

[Question] Babble challenge: 50 ways of solving a problem in your life

jacobjacob22 Oct 2020 4:49 UTC

34 points

29 comments2 min readLW link

Recommending Understand, a Game about Discerning the Rules

MondSemmel28 Oct 2021 14:53 UTC

96 points

53 comments4 min readLW link

Hammertime Day 1: Bug Hunt

alkjash30 Jan 2018 6:40 UTC

115 points

26 comments5 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

The Strategic Level

alkjash21 Mar 2018 5:00 UTC

35 points

2 comments2 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

The Darwin Game

lsusr9 Oct 2020 10:19 UTC

91 points

131 comments3 min readLW link

Alignment research exercises

Richard_Ngo21 Feb 2022 20:24 UTC

149 points

17 comments8 min readLW link

D&D.Sci Pathfinder: Return of the Gray Swan

aphyer1 Sep 2021 17:43 UTC

31 points

22 comments5 min readLW link

Contest: An Alien Message

DaemonicSigil27 Jun 2022 5:54 UTC

95 points

100 comments1 min readLW link

The 2021 Less Wrong Darwin Game

lsusr24 Sep 2021 21:16 UTC

162 points

102 comments9 min readLW link

[Question] Framing Practicum: Incentive

aysajan27 Aug 2021 19:22 UTC

38 points

6 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] Top Time Travel Interventions?

abramdemski26 Oct 2020 23:25 UTC

44 points

33 comments2 min readLW link

Hammertime Day 2: Yoda Timers

alkjash31 Jan 2018 5:10 UTC

56 points

29 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Hammertime Day 5: Comfort Zone Expansion

alkjash2 Feb 2018 18:00 UTC

22 points

40 comments6 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Hammertime Day 7: Aversion Factoring

alkjash4 Feb 2018 16:10 UTC

26 points

15 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Hammertime Day 8: Sunk Cost Faith

alkjash5 Feb 2018 1:00 UTC

28 points

13 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Hammertime Day 9: Time Calibration

alkjash7 Feb 2018 1:40 UTC

15 points

10 comments2 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Hammertime Day 6: Mantras

alkjash3 Feb 2018 22:00 UTC

24 points

27 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Hammertime Day 10: Murphyjitsu

alkjash7 Feb 2018 18:40 UTC

48 points

11 comments2 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Bug Hunt 2

alkjash20 Feb 2018 5:00 UTC

35 points

16 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Yoda Timers 2

alkjash21 Feb 2018 7:40 UTC

28 points

26 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

TAPs 2

alkjash22 Feb 2018 5:10 UTC

25 points

5 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

D&D.Sci(-fi): Colonizing the SuperHyperSphere

abstractapplic12 Jan 2024 23:36 UTC

48 points

23 comments2 min readLW link

CoZE 2

alkjash24 Feb 2018 5:40 UTC

16 points

7 comments2 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Three Miniatures

alkjash25 Feb 2018 5:40 UTC

22 points

12 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Focusing

alkjash26 Feb 2018 6:10 UTC

20 points

21 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Goal Factoring

alkjash26 Feb 2018 23:30 UTC

27 points

4 comments2 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

TDT for Humans

alkjash28 Feb 2018 5:40 UTC

26 points

7 comments5 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Friendship

alkjash1 Mar 2018 6:00 UTC

23 points

16 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Bug Hunt 3

alkjash13 Mar 2018 0:20 UTC

26 points

13 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Yoda Timers 3: Speed

alkjash13 Mar 2018 18:00 UTC

20 points

12 comments2 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

TAPs 3: Reductionism

alkjash15 Mar 2018 5:20 UTC

23 points

8 comments2 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Design 3: Intentionality

alkjash16 Mar 2018 4:30 UTC

21 points

12 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Silence

alkjash18 Mar 2018 4:10 UTC

60 points

17 comments4 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Internal Double Crux

alkjash19 Mar 2018 5:50 UTC

49 points

35 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Design 2

alkjash23 Feb 2018 6:20 UTC

18 points

17 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Exercise: Planmaking, Surprise Anticipation, and “Baba is You”

Raemon24 Feb 2024 20:33 UTC

48 points

19 comments6 min readLW link

Forecasting One-Shot Games

Raemon31 Aug 2024 23:10 UTC

46 points

0 comments7 min readLW link

OODA your OODA Loop

Raemon11 Oct 2024 0:50 UTC

37 points

3 comments3 min readLW link

The Cognitive Bootcamp Agreement

Raemon16 Oct 2024 23:24 UTC

34 points

0 comments9 min readLW link

Some 2-4-6 problems

abstractapplic28 Mar 2023 6:32 UTC

28 points

9 comments1 min readLW link

(h-b-p.github.io)

Game Theory without Argmax [Part 1]

Cleo Nardo11 Nov 2023 15:59 UTC

69 points

18 comments19 min readLW link

Game Theory without Argmax [Part 2]

Cleo Nardo11 Nov 2023 16:02 UTC

31 points

14 comments13 min readLW link

Interpretability with Sparse Autoencoders (Colab exercises)

CallumMcDougall29 Nov 2023 12:56 UTC

74 points

9 comments4 min readLW link

Arguing Well Sequence

Logan Riggs15 Sep 2019 2:01 UTC

14 points

0 comments1 min readLW link

Calibrating With Cards

lifelonglearner8 Aug 2019 6:44 UTC

32 points

3 comments3 min readLW link

CoZE 3: Empiricism

alkjash17 Mar 2018 4:10 UTC

20 points

4 comments2 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Fun and Games with Cognitive Biases

Cosmos18 Feb 2011 20:38 UTC

85 points

28 comments6 min readLW link

Constraints & Slackness Reasoning Exercises

johnswentworth21 May 2019 22:53 UTC

42 points

3 comments6 min readLW link

Deducing Impact

TurnTrout24 Sep 2019 21:14 UTC

72 points

28 comments1 min readLW link

Value Impact

TurnTrout23 Sep 2019 0:47 UTC

70 points

10 comments1 min readLW link

World State is the Wrong Abstraction for Impact

TurnTrout1 Oct 2019 21:03 UTC

67 points

19 comments2 min readLW link

Attainable Utility Landscape: How The World Is Changed

TurnTrout10 Feb 2020 0:58 UTC

52 points

7 comments6 min readLW link

Hammertime Day 3: TAPs

alkjash1 Feb 2018 4:10 UTC

20 points

26 comments3 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Hammertime Day 4: Design

alkjash1 Feb 2018 19:00 UTC

31 points

12 comments4 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Making Beliefs Pay Rent (in Anticipated Experiences): Exercises

RobinZ17 Apr 2011 15:31 UTC

38 points

13 comments1 min readLW link

Harry Potter and the Method of Entropy

alkjash31 Mar 2018 20:10 UTC

11 points

12 comments1 min readLW link

(radimentary.wordpress.com)

Mech Interp Puzzle 1: Suspiciously Similar Embeddings in GPT-Neo

Neel Nanda16 Jul 2023 22:02 UTC

65 points

15 comments1 min readLW link

[Question] What are good rationality exercises?

Ben Pace27 Sep 2020 21:25 UTC

54 points

25 comments1 min readLW link 1 review

Mech Interp Puzzle 2: Word2Vec Style Embeddings

Neel Nanda28 Jul 2023 0:50 UTC

40 points

4 comments2 min readLW link

[Question] Exercise: Solve “Thinking Physics”

Raemon1 Aug 2023 0:44 UTC

97 points

25 comments5 min readLW link

[Question] Babble challenge: 50 ways to escape a locked room

jacobjacob8 Oct 2020 5:13 UTC

30 points

83 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] Babble challenge: 50 ways of hiding Einstein’s pen for fifty years

jacobjacob15 Oct 2020 7:23 UTC

31 points

45 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] Babble challenge: 50 consequences of intelligent ant colonies

jacobjacob29 Oct 2020 7:21 UTC

23 points

48 comments4 min readLW link

[Question] Babble Challenge: 50 thoughts on stable, cooperative institutions

jacobjacob5 Nov 2020 6:38 UTC

29 points

12 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] Final Babble Challenge (for now): 100 ways to light a candle

jacobjacob12 Nov 2020 23:17 UTC

45 points

31 comments4 min readLW link

How to get the benefits of moving without moving (babble)

mingyuan13 Nov 2020 20:17 UTC

71 points

11 comments9 min readLW link

Thread for making 2019 Review accountability commitments

jacobjacob18 Dec 2020 5:07 UTC

46 points

6 comments2 min readLW link

A workshop on Life Influences

Elo10 Jan 2021 11:23 UTC

8 points

0 comments4 min readLW link

Exercise: Taboo “Should”

johnswentworth22 Jan 2021 21:02 UTC

96 points

28 comments9 min readLW link 2 reviews

Pseudorandomness contest: prizes, results, and analysis

Eric Neyman15 Jan 2021 6:24 UTC

158 points

22 comments20 min readLW link

(ericneyman.wordpress.com)

D&D.Sci August 2021: The Oracle and the Monk

abstractapplic13 Aug 2021 22:36 UTC

33 points

23 comments2 min readLW link

[Question] Quote Quiz

Gunnar_Zarncke30 Aug 2021 23:30 UTC

6 points

4 comments1 min readLW link

2021 Darwin Game—Contestants

lsusr3 Oct 2021 5:09 UTC

70 points

17 comments1 min readLW link

2021 Darwin Game—Tundra

lsusr5 Oct 2021 5:03 UTC

48 points

17 comments2 min readLW link

2021 Darwin Game—Desert

lsusr6 Oct 2021 0:24 UTC

37 points

2 comments2 min readLW link

2021 Darwin Game—Ocean

lsusr6 Oct 2021 1:59 UTC

27 points

2 comments4 min readLW link

2021 Darwin Game—Benthic

lsusr6 Oct 2021 4:39 UTC

25 points

0 comments3 min readLW link

2021 Darwin Game—Human Garbage Dump

lsusr6 Oct 2021 6:31 UTC

36 points

7 comments4 min readLW link

2021 Darwin Game—River

lsusr6 Oct 2021 7:29 UTC

30 points

8 comments1 min readLW link

2021 Darwin Game—Everywhere Else

lsusr6 Oct 2021 20:39 UTC

48 points

18 comments6 min readLW link

The Meta-Puzzle

DanielFilan22 Nov 2021 5:30 UTC

23 points

27 comments3 min readLW link

(danielfilan.com)

DnD.Sci GURPS Evaluation and Ruleset

J Bostock22 Dec 2021 19:05 UTC

17 points

2 comments6 min readLW link

List of Probability Calibration Exercises

Isaac King23 Jan 2022 2:12 UTC

73 points

12 comments1 min readLW link

A Warm Up Problem for Yudkowsky’s New Fiction

Robert Kennedy3 Mar 2022 15:25 UTC

14 points

42 comments1 min readLW link

Learned Blankness and Expectations of Solubility

brook18 Mar 2022 12:42 UTC

8 points

2 comments2 min readLW link

Duels & D.Sci March 2022: It’s time for D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-data!

aphyer25 Mar 2022 16:55 UTC

51 points

38 comments4 min readLW link

Creative nonfiction training exercises

dynomight4 Apr 2022 16:17 UTC

11 points

0 comments6 min readLW link

(dynomight.net)

Proving Too Much (w/ exercises)

Logan Riggs15 Sep 2019 2:28 UTC

11 points

13 comments4 min readLW link

[Question] Framing Practicum: Stable Equilibrium

johnswentworth9 Aug 2021 17:28 UTC

57 points

42 comments4 min readLW link

Credence Calibration Icebreaker Game

Ruby14 Aug 2014 21:01 UTC

42 points

1 comment2 min readLW link

Ars D&D.sci: Mysteries of Mana

aphyer9 Jul 2022 12:19 UTC

38 points

13 comments3 min readLW link

Alien Message Contest: Solution

DaemonicSigil13 Jul 2022 4:07 UTC

29 points

2 comments4 min readLW link

Deep learning curriculum for large language model alignment

Jacob_Hilton13 Jul 2022 21:58 UTC

57 points

3 comments1 min readLW link

(github.com)

Calibration Trivia

Screwtape4 Aug 2022 22:31 UTC

12 points

9 comments4 min readLW link

Dwarves & D.Sci: Data Fortress

aphyer6 Aug 2022 18:24 UTC

38 points

26 comments3 min readLW link

Introducing Pastcasting: A tool for forecasting practice

Sage Future11 Aug 2022 17:38 UTC

95 points

10 comments2 min readLW link 2 reviews

[Question] Are there practical exercises for developing the Scout mindset?

ChristianKl15 Aug 2022 17:23 UTC

15 points

2 comments1 min readLW link

Infra-Exercises, Part 1

Diffractor, Jack Parker and Connall Garrod

1 Sep 2022 5:06 UTC

56 points

10 comments1 min readLW link

D&D.Sci September 2022: The Allocation Helm

abstractapplic16 Sep 2022 23:10 UTC

34 points

34 comments1 min readLW link

How To Observe Abstract Objects

LoganStrohl30 Sep 2022 2:11 UTC

54 points

12 comments21 min readLW link 1 review

Consider trying Vivek Hebbar’s alignment exercises

Akash24 Oct 2022 19:46 UTC

38 points

1 comment4 min readLW link

Exquisite Oracle: A Dadaist-Inspired Literary Game for Many Friends (or 1 AI)

Yitz26 Jan 2023 18:26 UTC

6 points

1 comment1 min readLW link

Bayesian Scenario: Snipers & Soldiers

abstractapplic26 Feb 2023 21:48 UTC

23 points

8 comments1 min readLW link

(h-b-p.github.io)

You Be the Jury: Survey on a Current Event

komponisto9 Dec 2009 4:25 UTC

43 points

266 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] Framing Practicum: Selection Incentive

aysajan2 Sep 2021 20:26 UTC

13 points

6 comments3 min readLW link

Staying Split: Sabatini and Social Justice

Duncan Sabien (Deactivated)8 Jun 2022 8:32 UTC

152 points

28 comments21 min readLW link

D&D.Sci 4th Edition: League of Defenders of the Storm

aphyer28 Sep 2021 23:19 UTC

44 points

31 comments3 min readLW link

The Falling Drill

Screwtape5 Aug 2022 0:08 UTC

46 points

3 comments2 min readLW link

Abandoned prototype video game teaching elementary circuit theory

Steven Byrnes30 Mar 2022 20:37 UTC

17 points

3 comments1 min readLW link

D&D.Sci 4th Edition: League of Defenders of the Storm Evaluation & Ruleset

aphyer5 Oct 2021 17:30 UTC

40 points

17 comments7 min readLW link

Quantified Intuitions: An epistemics training website including a new EA-themed calibration app

Sage Future and elifland

20 Sep 2022 22:25 UTC

28 points

2 comments2 min readLW link

Solving the Brazilian Children’s Game of 007

Epirito6 Apr 2022 13:03 UTC

4 points

6 comments2 min readLW link

The Up-Goer Five Game: Explaining hard ideas with simple words

Rob Bensinger5 Sep 2013 5:54 UTC

44 points

82 comments2 min readLW link

case study: iterative drawing

brown17 Oct 2018 4:35 UTC

23 points

3 comments1 min readLW link

Positive Bias Test (C++ program)

MBlume19 May 2009 21:32 UTC

30 points

79 comments4 min readLW link

Content and Takeaways from SERI MATS Training Program with John Wentworth

RohanS24 Dec 2022 4:17 UTC

28 points

3 comments12 min readLW link

Building a transformer from scratch—AI safety up-skilling challenge

Marius Hobbhahn12 Oct 2022 15:40 UTC

42 points

1 comment5 min readLW link

An Exercise to Build Intuitions on AGI Risk

Lauro Langosco7 Jun 2023 18:35 UTC

52 points

3 comments8 min readLW link

Joy in Discovery: Galois theory

Eigil Rischel2 Sep 2019 19:16 UTC

30 points

2 comments3 min readLW link

Sequence Exercise: first 3 posts from “A Human’s Guide to Words”

Normal_Anomaly16 Apr 2011 17:21 UTC

43 points

18 comments1 min readLW link

One way to manipulate your level of abstraction related to a task

Andy_McKenzie19 Aug 2013 5:47 UTC

36 points

5 comments1 min readLW link

A thought-process testing opportunity

[deleted]22 Apr 2013 19:51 UTC

46 points

28 comments1 min readLW link

List of technical AI safety exercises and projects

JakubK19 Jan 2023 9:35 UTC

41 points

5 comments1 min readLW link

(docs.google.com)

A Less Mysterious Mindfulness Exercise

[deleted]18 Sep 2012 23:33 UTC

36 points

64 comments7 min readLW link

Meetup In a Box: Year In Review

Czynski14 Feb 2024 1:18 UTC

26 points

0 comments4 min readLW link

Sleep math: red clay blue clay

KatjaGrace8 Mar 2021 0:30 UTC

23 points

9 comments1 min readLW link

(worldspiritsockpuppet.com)

Hegel vs. GPT-3

Bezzi27 Oct 2021 5:55 UTC

10 points

21 comments2 min readLW link

Canberra Rationality Exercises

nBrown3 Feb 2018 2:55 UTC

9 points

0 comments2 min readLW link

[Question] Fermi Challenge: Trains and Air Cargo

Ben Pace5 Oct 2020 21:51 UTC

23 points

21 comments1 min readLW link

How well does your research adress the theory-practice gap?

Jonas Hallgren8 Nov 2023 11:27 UTC

18 points

0 comments10 min readLW link

0.999...=1: Another Rationality Litmus Test

shev21 Jan 2017 2:16 UTC

27 points

59 comments7 min readLW link

D&D.Sci Dungeoncrawling: The Crown of Command

aphyer7 Nov 2021 18:39 UTC

36 points

27 comments4 min readLW link

Infinite Summations: A Rationality Litmus Test

shev20 Jan 2017 9:31 UTC

38 points

23 comments5 min readLW link

Test Your Calibration!

alyssavance11 Nov 2009 22:03 UTC

25 points

33 comments2 min readLW link

Unyielding Yoda Timers: Taking the Hammertime Final Exam

TurnTrout3 Apr 2018 2:38 UTC

16 points

3 comments1 min readLW link

Custom games that involve skills related to rationality

Alexander23022 Dec 2016 21:03 UTC

17 points

1 comment1 min readLW link

D&D.Sci Dungeoncrawling: The Crown of Command Evaluation & Ruleset

aphyer16 Nov 2021 0:29 UTC

29 points

12 comments9 min readLW link

Challenge: A Much More Alien Message

kman28 Jun 2022 21:50 UTC

24 points

7 comments1 min readLW link

Dwarves & D.Sci: Data Fortress Evaluation & Ruleset

aphyer16 Aug 2022 0:15 UTC

26 points

10 comments8 min readLW link

Fixed Point Exercises

Scott Garrabrant17 Nov 2018 1:39 UTC

64 points

8 comments2 min readLW link

Exercises for Overcoming Akrasia and Procrastination

Matt Goldenberg16 Sep 2019 11:53 UTC

28 points

6 comments1 min readLW link

Brief notes on the Wikipedia game

Olli Järviniemi14 Jul 2024 2:28 UTC

68 points

9 comments4 min readLW link

Learning Written Hindi From Scratch

Morpheus11 Apr 2024 11:13 UTC

3 points

0 comments2 min readLW link

Notes on Schelling’s “Strategy of Conflict” (1960)

MichaelA10 Feb 2021 2:48 UTC

25 points

8 comments8 min readLW link

Notes on Henrich’s “The WEIRDest People in the World” (2020)

MichaelA14 Feb 2021 8:40 UTC

18 points

0 comments8 min readLW link

Notes on “Bioterror and Biowarfare” (2006)

MichaelA2 Mar 2021 0:43 UTC

10 points

3 comments4 min readLW link

[Question] What are fun little puzzles / games / exercises to learn interesting concepts?

Mati_Roy18 Mar 2021 3:26 UTC

18 points

6 comments1 min readLW link

D&D.Sci

abstractapplic5 Dec 2020 23:26 UTC

81 points

50 comments1 min readLW link

D&D.Sci II: The Sorceror’s Personal Shopper

abstractapplic12 Jan 2021 1:38 UTC

60 points

29 comments2 min readLW link

D&D.Sci III: Mancer Matchups

abstractapplic5 Mar 2021 19:07 UTC

21 points

22 comments3 min readLW link

D&D.Sci April 2021: Voyages of the Gray Swan

abstractapplic12 Apr 2021 18:23 UTC

53 points

35 comments2 min readLW link

D&D.Sci April 2021 Evaluation and Ruleset

abstractapplic19 Apr 2021 13:26 UTC

48 points

8 comments3 min readLW link

D&D.Sci May 2021: Monster Carcass Auction

abstractapplic7 May 2021 19:33 UTC

28 points

25 comments2 min readLW link

D&D.Sci(-Fi) June 2021: The Duel with Earwax

abstractapplic22 Jun 2021 11:48 UTC

26 points

28 comments3 min readLW link

Ars D&D.Sci: Mysteries of Mana Evaluation & Ruleset

aphyer19 Jul 2022 2:06 UTC

33 points

4 comments5 min readLW link

D&D.Sci August 2021 Evaluation and Ruleset

abstractapplic23 Aug 2021 22:49 UTC

33 points

3 comments3 min readLW link

[Question] Framing Practicum: Turnover Time

johnswentworth24 Aug 2021 16:29 UTC

22 points

5 comments4 min readLW link

[Question] What are the best elementary math problems you know?

Ege Erdil20 Mar 2022 17:18 UTC

42 points

84 comments1 min readLW link

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Ex­er­cises /​ Prob­lem-Sets

Exercises / Problem-Sets