Meetup : Durham NC/​Triangle Area: “Rationality is hard! Let’s do math” (Utility Functions/​Prospect Theory)

[therufs]

Discussion article for the meetup : Durham NC/​Triangle Area: “Rationality is hard! Let’s do math” (Utility Functions/​Prospect Theory)

WHEN: 15 August 2013 07:00:00PM (-0400)

WHERE: 420 West Geer St., Durham NC 27701

Next Thursday’s meetup topics will be utility functions & prospect theory! Suggested reading and more detailed schedule forthcoming.

Basic schedule: 7:00 meet at Cocoa Cinnamon; chat & obtain beverages
7:30 discuss!
9:30 ish adjourn to Fullsteam for further beverages

Discussion article for the meetup : Durham NC/​Triangle Area: “Rationality is hard! Let’s do math” (Utility Functions/​Prospect Theory)

[therufs]

Suggested readings c/​o Evan:

We are going to aim for a technical explanation of the phrase “utility function” (and possibly some other terms). What does “technical explanation” mean, you ask? Good question! I suggest reading this:

http://​​yudkowsky.net/​​rational/​​technical

We’ll also be talking a lot about probabilities and expected values. If you don’t feel comfortable enough with those terms to do math involving them, then some reading might be helpful. I suggest starting with the Wikipedia page:
http://​​en.wikipedia.org/​​wiki/​​Expected_value

I’m really not sure what background knowledge everyone actually has here; if you have specific question about probability and expected values, please post them! If you are unsure about stuff, and encounter helpful things on the Net, and wish to share them as reading suggestions, that would be awesome.

We’ll be talking about the VNM axioms and theorem; my goal is that we’ll cover the basics, and you don’t need to do background reading on these. But, if you’re the sort who always read ahead in their math textbook, then the equivalent operation would be to read these:
http://​​en.wikipedia.org/​​wiki/​​Von_Neumann%E2%80%93Morgenstern_utility_theorem
http://​​lesswrong.com/​​lw/​​ggm/​​pinpointing_utility/​​

The other piece we’ll talk a bit about is Prospect Theory. I’ll be using Thinking: Fast and Slow as my reference, which is an awesome book that everyone should read. But probably a bit more than you want for before the meetup. I don’t have any handy online references, but hopefully we can make it all make sense without any.