# beeminder epiphany: auto re-pledge with easy opt-out

**URL:** <https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368>\
**Category:** uncategorized\
**Created:** [April 30, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368 "2012-04-30T05:12:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dreev](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/dreev/32/4311_2.png) [@dreev](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/dreev)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/1 "2012-04-30T05:12:03Z")

</div>

(Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)

This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
epiphany. It has 2 parts:

1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
that. [1]

2. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
uncle. [2]

We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
those keeping track:  
First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]

(And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
[5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
where any of these ideas come from.)

Tentative name for this one:  
The Weasel Principle [6]  
Or maybe:  
Auto Re-Railment [7]

Footnotes:

[0] [http://blog.beeminder.com/sos](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)

[1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
[beeminder.com/meta/uvi](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
high standards.

[2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.

[3] [http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth) (nitty gritty of the road  
width algorithm)

[4] [http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind) (“Flexible Self-Control”)

[5] [http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia) (inaugural post on the beeminder blog)

[6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
– they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
penalties were automated.

[7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
if you’re actually entering data points.

–  
[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://"Daniel Reeves"  
Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kubla](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/kubla/32/148_2.png) [@kubla](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/kubla)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/2 "2012-04-30T23:58:22Z")

</div>

I love this. #1 brought a little tear to my eye.

(I know this is brilliant because it comports perfectly with my own  
judgment and prejudices!)

On Apr 30, 2012 1:12 AM, “Daniel Reeves” [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:

> (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> 
> This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> 
> 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> that. [1]
> 
> 2. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> uncle. [2]
> 
> We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> those keeping track:  
> First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> 
> (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> where any of these ideas come from.)
> 
> Tentative name for this one:  
> The Weasel Principle [6]  
> Or maybe:  
> Auto Re-Railment [7]
> 
> Footnotes:
> 
> [0] [Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> 
> [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> high standards.
> 
> [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> 
> [3] [The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth) (nitty gritty of the road  
> width algorithm)
> 
> [4] [Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind) (“Flexible Self-Control”)
> 
> [5] [How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia) (inaugural post on the beeminder  
> blog)
> 
> [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> penalties were automated.
> 
> [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> if you’re actually entering data points.
> 
> –  
> [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dy1](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/dy1/32/189_2.png) [@dy1](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/dy1)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/3 "2012-05-01T00:57:55Z")

</div>

I agree, this feels like the most natural way to capture a user’s  
commitment and to build a sustainable business model (subscriptions never  
felt right). I think the epiphany should be named: “Keeping the dream  
alive.” One intuition I have is that it is better to only raise their  
payment one level from their previous one (so if you fall off a 5 dollar  
road you set up and never do anything with beeminder again, beeminder just  
keeps charging them (level after 5) continuously, rather than having it  
exponentially grow). You want to either continually keep them subscribed,  
or get them back into it, but if it grows and grows, they’ll be forced to  
exit with a bad impression.

That’s the genius of Godaddy and gym memberships - I’d rather pay $9 a year  
than admit that I’ll never execute on the domain of [[mydryspell.com](http://mydryspell.com)  
[junxxion.com](http://junxxion.com) etc etc etc].

David

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 4:58 PM, Michael J.J. Tiffany \<  
[michael.tiffany@gmail.com](mailto:michael.tiffany@gmail.com)\> wrote:

> I love this. #1 brought a little tear to my eye.
> 
> (I know this is brilliant because it comports perfectly with my own  
> judgment and prejudices!)
> 
> On Apr 30, 2012 1:12 AM, “Daniel Reeves” [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:
> 
> > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > 
> > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > 
> > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> > that. [1]
> > 
> > 2. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > uncle. [2]
> > 
> > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > those keeping track:  
> > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > 
> > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > 
> > Tentative name for this one:  
> > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > Or maybe:  
> > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > 
> > Footnotes:
> > 
> > [0] [Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > 
> > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> > high standards.
> > 
> > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> > 
> > [3] [The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth) (nitty gritty of the road  
> > width algorithm)
> > 
> > [4] [Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind) (“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > 
> > [5] [How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia) (inaugural post on the beeminder  
> > blog)
> > 
> > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> > penalties were automated.
> > 
> > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > 
> > –  
> > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jake\_Hofman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/jake_hofman/32/687_2.png) [@Jake\_Hofman](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/Jake_Hofman)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/4 "2012-05-01T00:59:34Z")

</div>

sounds like a great idea.

funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
decided not to do it!

-j

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:

> (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> 
> This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> 
> 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> that. [1]
> 
> 2. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> uncle. [2]
> 
> We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> those keeping track:  
> First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> 
> (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> where any of these ideas come from.)
> 
> Tentative name for this one:  
> The Weasel Principle [6]  
> Or maybe:  
> Auto Re-Railment [7]
> 
> Footnotes:
> 
> [0] [Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> 
> [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> high standards.
> 
> [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> 
> [3] [The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth) (nitty gritty of the road  
> width algorithm)
> 
> [4] [Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind) (“Flexible Self-Control”)
> 
> [5] [How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia) (inaugural post on the beeminder blog)
> 
> [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> penalties were automated.
> 
> [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> if you’re actually entering data points.
> 
> –  
> [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![David\_Reiley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@David\_Reiley](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/David_Reiley)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/5 "2012-05-01T02:28:41Z")

</div>

David’s point seems like a good one to me. Maybe the tripling isn’t such a good idea for those people.

I agree that tripling seems about right for people who actively want you to help them stick to their goals, though. Hmmm.

David

On Apr 30, 2012, at 5:57 PM, David Yang wrote:

> I agree, this feels like the most natural way to capture a user’s commitment and to build a sustainable business model (subscriptions never felt right). I think the epiphany should be named: “Keeping the dream alive.” One intuition I have is that it is better to only raise their payment one level from their previous one (so if you fall off a 5 dollar road you set up and never do anything with beeminder again, beeminder just keeps charging them (level after 5) continuously, rather than having it exponentially grow). You want to either continually keep them subscribed, or get them back into it, but if it grows and grows, they’ll be forced to exit with a bad impression.
> 
> That’s the genius of Godaddy and gym memberships - I’d rather pay $9 a year than admit that I’ll never execute on the domain of [[mydryspell.com](http://mydryspell.com) [junxxion.com](http://junxxion.com) etc etc etc].
> 
> David
> 
> On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 4:58 PM, Michael J.J. Tiffany [michael.tiffany@gmail.com](mailto:michael.tiffany@gmail.com) wrote:  
> I love this. #1 brought a little tear to my eye.
> 
> (I know this is brilliant because it comports perfectly with my own judgment and prejudices!)
> 
> On Apr 30, 2012 1:12 AM, “Daniel Reeves” [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:  
> (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> 
> This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> 
> 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> that. [1]
> 
> 2. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> uncle. [2]
> 
> We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> those keeping track:  
> First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> 
> (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> where any of these ideas come from.)
> 
> Tentative name for this one:  
> The Weasel Principle [6]  
> Or maybe:  
> Auto Re-Railment [7]
> 
> Footnotes:
> 
> [0] [Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> 
> [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> high standards.
> 
> [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> 
> [3] [The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth) (nitty gritty of the road  
> width algorithm)
> 
> [4] [Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind) (“Flexible Self-Control”)
> 
> [5] [How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia) (inaugural post on the beeminder blog)
> 
> [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> penalties were automated.
> 
> [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> if you’re actually entering data points.
> 
> –  
> [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

–  
My home page: [http://www.davidreiley.com](http://www.davidreiley.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dreev](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/dreev/32/4311_2.png) [@dreev](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/dreev)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/6 "2012-05-01T04:07:12Z")

</div>

nice. 🙂  
now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
(great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)

still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.

it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
induced.

fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
one!)

still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
going to achieve this goal.

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhofman@gmail.com](mailto:jhofman@gmail.com) wrote:

> sounds like a great idea.
> 
> funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> decided not to do it!
> 
> -j
> 
> On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:
> 
> > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > 
> > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > 
> > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> > that. [1]
> > 
> > 2. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > uncle. [2]
> > 
> > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > those keeping track:  
> > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > 
> > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > 
> > Tentative name for this one:  
> > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > Or maybe:  
> > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > 
> > Footnotes:
> > 
> > [0] [Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > 
> > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> > high standards.
> > 
> > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> > 
> > [3] [The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth) (nitty gritty of the road  
> > width algorithm)
> > 
> > [4] [Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind) (“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > 
> > [5] [How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia) (inaugural post on the beeminder blog)
> > 
> > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> > penalties were automated.
> > 
> > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > 
> > –  
> > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

–  
[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Philip\_Hellyer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/philip_hellyer/32/675_2.png) [@Philip\_Hellyer](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/Philip_Hellyer)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/7 "2012-05-01T15:51:35Z")

</div>

I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
up to a runaway re-commitment train!

Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
valued goals, etc.

When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.

While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off the  
road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.

That’s why my fine print carefully states:

If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the off-  
the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk away  
for $100.

(Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)

I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What this  
clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
decided is the right thing.

Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
decision.

The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
this particular goal.)

I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose my  
inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…

Philip

On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:

> nice. 🙂  
> now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> 
> still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> 
> it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
> off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
> paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
> induced.
> 
> fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> one!)
> 
> still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
> have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> going to achieve this goal.
> 
> On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > sounds like a great idea.
> 
> > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > decided not to do it!
> 
> > -j
> 
> > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> 
> > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> 
> > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> > > that. [1]
> 
> > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > uncle. [2]
> 
> > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > > those keeping track:  
> > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> 
> > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> 
> > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > Or maybe:  
> > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> 
> > > Footnotes:
> 
> > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> 
> > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> > > high standards.
> 
> > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> 
> > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > width algorithm)
> 
> > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> 
> > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the beeminder blog)
> 
> > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> > > penalties were automated.
> 
> > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> 
> > > –  
> > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> 
> –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mirolabs](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/mirolabs/32/2458_2.png) [@mirolabs](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/mirolabs)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/8 "2012-05-02T15:32:10Z")

</div>

I think Philip has a point.

> I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
> up to a runaway re-commitment train!

> Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
> lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
> valued goals, etc.

> When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
> want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
> enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
> highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.

> While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
> subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off the  
> road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
> missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
> decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.

> That’s why my fine print carefully states:

> If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
> extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the off-  
> the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk away  
> for $100.

> (Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
> don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)

> I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
> re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What this  
> clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
> decided is the right thing.

> Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
> under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
> immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
> thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
> cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
> decision.

> The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
> importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
> adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
> this particular goal.)

> I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
> anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose my  
> inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…

> Philip

> On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> 
> > nice. 🙂  
> > now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> > we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> > (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> > 
> > still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> > quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> > to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> > 
> > it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
> > off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
> > paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
> > induced.
> > 
> > fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> > more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> > who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> > one!)
> > 
> > still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
> > have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> > going to achieve this goal.
> > 
> > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > sounds like a great idea.
> > 
> > > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> > > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > > decided not to do it!
> > 
> > > -j
> > 
> > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> > > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> > > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > 
> > > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> > > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > 
> > > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> > > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> > > > that. [1]
> > 
> > > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> > > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > > uncle. [2]
> > 
> > > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > > > those keeping track:  
> > > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > 
> > > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > 
> > > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > > Or maybe:  
> > > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > 
> > > > Footnotes:
> > 
> > > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > 
> > > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> > > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> > > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> > > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> > > > high standards.
> > 
> > > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> > > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> > > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> > 
> > > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > > width algorithm)
> > 
> > > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > 
> > > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the beeminder blog)
> > 
> > > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> > > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> > > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> > > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> > > > penalties were automated.
> > 
> > > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> > > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> > > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> > > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> > > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > 
> > > > –  
> > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > 
> > –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Isaac\_Schankler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Isaac\_Schankler](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/Isaac_Schankler)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/9 "2012-05-02T16:04:03Z")

</div>

Perhaps a good compromise would be that entering a new data point after  
derailment would automatically re-pledge. That way no one who went MIA  
would get hammered.

On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 8:32 AM, Alexander Schwarz [miro23@gmail.com](mailto:miro23@gmail.com) wrote:

> I think Philip has a point.
> 
> > I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
> > up to a runaway re-commitment train!
> 
> > Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
> > lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
> > valued goals, etc.
> 
> > When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
> > want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
> > enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
> > highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.
> 
> > While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
> > subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off the  
> > road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
> > missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
> > decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.
> 
> > That’s why my fine print carefully states:
> 
> > If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
> > extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the off-  
> > the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk away  
> > for $100.
> 
> > (Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
> > don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)
> 
> > I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
> > re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What this  
> > clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
> > decided is the right thing.
> 
> > Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
> > under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
> > immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
> > thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
> > cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
> > decision.
> 
> > The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
> > importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
> > adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
> > this particular goal.)
> 
> > I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
> > anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose my  
> > inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…
> 
> > Philip
> 
> > On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > nice. 🙂  
> > > now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> > > we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> > > (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> > > 
> > > still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> > > quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> > > to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> > > 
> > > it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
> > > off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
> > > paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
> > > induced.
> > > 
> > > fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> > > more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> > > who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> > > one!)
> > > 
> > > still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
> > > have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> > > going to achieve this goal.
> > > 
> > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > sounds like a great idea.
> > > 
> > > > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> > > > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > > > decided not to do it!
> > > 
> > > > -j
> > > 
> > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com)  
> > > > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> > > > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> > > > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > > 
> > > > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> > > > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > > 
> > > > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> > > > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> > > > > that. [1]
> > > 
> > > > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you  
> > > > > derail.  
> > > > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > > > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > > > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > > > uncle. [2]
> > > 
> > > > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > > > > those keeping track:  
> > > > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > > 
> > > > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > > > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > > > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > > 
> > > > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > > > Or maybe:  
> > > > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > > 
> > > > > Footnotes:
> > > 
> > > > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > > 
> > > > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> > > > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> > > > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder  
> > > > > users  
> > > > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > > > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> > > > > high standards.
> > > 
> > > > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and  
> > > > > be  
> > > > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> > > > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> > > 
> > > > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > > > width algorithm)
> > > 
> > > > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > > 
> > > > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the  
> > > > > beeminder blog)
> > > 
> > > > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify  
> > > > > their  
> > > > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > > > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels  
> > > > > of  
> > > > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not  
> > > > > unfreezing  
> > > > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if  
> > > > > those  
> > > > > penalties were automated.
> > > 
> > > > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone  
> > > > > starts  
> > > > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> > > > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> > > > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> > > > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > > 
> > > > > –  
> > > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > 
> > > –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

–  
Isaac Schankler, composer | [www.isaacschankler.com](http://www.isaacschankler.com)  
Artist in Residence, Music Computation and Cognition Laboratory (MuCoaCo) |  
www-bcf.usc.edu/~mucoaco/  
Artistic Director, People Inside Electronics (PIE) |  
[www.peopleinsideelectronics.com](http://www.peopleinsideelectronics.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dreev](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/dreev/32/4311_2.png) [@dreev](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/dreev)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/10 "2012-12-29T19:46:25Z")

</div>

Resurrecting this thread about pre-commit-to-recommit (as we now call  
it) which we’re almost ready to deploy, after testing it on ourselves  
a bit more.  
The idea is you just have a checkbox on your goal page and if you  
happen to have had it checked when you derail then it just  
automatically rerails you.

Let us know if any of you want to start guineapigging it as well! (You  
can’t see the checkbox yet but we can, so you can just tell us to  
check it for you.)

We might wait to publicly deploy till we have some kind of “no mercy”  
option. Some people really hate it when they accidentally rerail with  
a flat spot. People who check precommit-to-recommit probably  
especially so.

There are actually 2 auxiliary binary choices to make with pre-to-re:

1. flat spot? 2. rerail at same or higher pledge level? (Current  
defaults are Yes and Higher.)  
The 2nd choice isn’t as important now that we let you move up and down  
the pledge schedule (though not easily!)…  
[Pledge Short-Circuiting | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/shortcircuit)

On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 8:51 AM, pjh [philip@hellyer.net](mailto:philip@hellyer.net) wrote:

> I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
> up to a runaway re-commitment train!
> 
> Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
> lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
> valued goals, etc.
> 
> When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
> want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
> enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
> highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.
> 
> While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
> subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off the  
> road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
> missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
> decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.
> 
> That’s why my fine print carefully states:
> 
> If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
> extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the off-  
> the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk away  
> for $100.
> 
> (Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
> don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)
> 
> I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
> re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What this  
> clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
> decided is the right thing.
> 
> Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
> under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
> immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
> thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
> cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
> decision.
> 
> The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
> importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
> adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
> this particular goal.)
> 
> I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
> anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose my  
> inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…
> 
> Philip
> 
> On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> 
> > nice. 🙂  
> > now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> > we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> > (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> > 
> > still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> > quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> > to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> > 
> > it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
> > off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
> > paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
> > induced.
> > 
> > fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> > more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> > who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> > one!)
> > 
> > still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
> > have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> > going to achieve this goal.
> > 
> > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > sounds like a great idea.
> > 
> > > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> > > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > > decided not to do it!
> > 
> > > -j
> > 
> > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> > > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> > > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > 
> > > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> > > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > 
> > > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> > > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> > > > that. [1]
> > 
> > > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> > > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > > uncle. [2]
> > 
> > > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > > > those keeping track:  
> > > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > 
> > > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > 
> > > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > > Or maybe:  
> > > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > 
> > > > Footnotes:
> > 
> > > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > 
> > > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> > > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> > > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> > > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> > > > high standards.
> > 
> > > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> > > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> > > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> > 
> > > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > > width algorithm)
> > 
> > > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > 
> > > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the beeminder blog)
> > 
> > > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> > > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> > > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> > > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> > > > penalties were automated.
> > 
> > > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> > > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> > > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> > > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> > > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > 
> > > > –  
> > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > 
> > –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

–  
[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dreev](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/dreev/32/4311_2.png) [@dreev](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/dreev)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/11 "2013-02-13T00:12:33Z")

</div>

Hi Akratics! The precommit-to-recommit feature is live now!  
If any of you can read this draft of our blog post before we publish  
it, we’d be grateful:

> **[Precommit to Recommit: The Third Great Beeminder Epiphany](https://blog.beeminder.com/recommit/?secretpreview)**
>
> UPDATE 2013 August: We decided this was so ingenious that we made it fundamental to Beeminder. There’s no longer such a thing as not precommiting to recommit. In other words, goals no longer freeze when you derail. Below is the post in its original...

On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 11:46 AM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:

> Resurrecting this thread about pre-commit-to-recommit (as we now call  
> it) which we’re almost ready to deploy, after testing it on ourselves  
> a bit more.  
> The idea is you just have a checkbox on your goal page and if you  
> happen to have had it checked when you derail then it just  
> automatically rerails you.
> 
> Let us know if any of you want to start guineapigging it as well! (You  
> can’t see the checkbox yet but we can, so you can just tell us to  
> check it for you.)
> 
> We might wait to publicly deploy till we have some kind of “no mercy”  
> option. Some people really hate it when they accidentally rerail with  
> a flat spot. People who check precommit-to-recommit probably  
> especially so.
> 
> There are actually 2 auxiliary binary choices to make with pre-to-re:
> 
> 1. flat spot? 2. rerail at same or higher pledge level? (Current  
> defaults are Yes and Higher.)  
> The 2nd choice isn’t as important now that we let you move up and down  
> the pledge schedule (though not easily!)…  
> [Pledge Short-Circuiting | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/shortcircuit)
> 
> On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 8:51 AM, pjh [philip@hellyer.net](mailto:philip@hellyer.net) wrote:
> 
> > I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
> > up to a runaway re-commitment train!
> > 
> > Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
> > lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
> > valued goals, etc.
> > 
> > When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
> > want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
> > enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
> > highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.
> > 
> > While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
> > subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off the  
> > road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
> > missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
> > decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.
> > 
> > That’s why my fine print carefully states:
> > 
> > If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
> > extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the off-  
> > the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk away  
> > for $100.
> > 
> > (Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
> > don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)
> > 
> > I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
> > re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What this  
> > clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
> > decided is the right thing.
> > 
> > Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
> > under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
> > immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
> > thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
> > cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
> > decision.
> > 
> > The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
> > importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
> > adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
> > this particular goal.)
> > 
> > I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
> > anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose my  
> > inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…
> > 
> > Philip
> > 
> > On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > nice. 🙂  
> > > now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> > > we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> > > (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> > > 
> > > still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> > > quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> > > to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> > > 
> > > it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
> > > off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
> > > paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
> > > induced.
> > > 
> > > fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> > > more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> > > who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> > > one!)
> > > 
> > > still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
> > > have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> > > going to achieve this goal.
> > > 
> > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > sounds like a great idea.
> > > 
> > > > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> > > > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > > > decided not to do it!
> > > 
> > > > -j
> > > 
> > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> > > > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> > > > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > > 
> > > > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest Beeminder  
> > > > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > > 
> > > > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that; just  
> > > > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> > > > > that. [1]
> > > 
> > > > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> > > > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > > > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > > > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > > > uncle. [2]
> > > 
> > > > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > > > > those keeping track:  
> > > > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > > 
> > > > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > > > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > > > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > > 
> > > > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > > > Or maybe:  
> > > > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > > 
> > > > > Footnotes:
> > > 
> > > > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > > 
> > > > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the definition  
> > > > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> > > > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder users  
> > > > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > > > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> > > > > high standards.
> > > 
> > > > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and be  
> > > > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a goal  
> > > > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is beeminding.
> > > 
> > > > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > > > width algorithm)
> > > 
> > > > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > > 
> > > > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the beeminder blog)
> > > 
> > > > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> > > > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > > > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> > > > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> > > > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> > > > > penalties were automated.
> > > 
> > > > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone starts  
> > > > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging them  
> > > > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can start  
> > > > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only re-rail  
> > > > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > > 
> > > > > –  
> > > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > 
> > > –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> 
> –  
> [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

–  
[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![romduda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3bc359/32.png) [@romduda](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/romduda)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/12 "2013-02-13T00:17:49Z")

</div>

Just read through it, couldn’t spot any typos or anything, and it generally  
reads very well!

Also, I’m definitely voting yes on the ‘no mercy’ option!

On 13 February 2013 00:12, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:

> Hi Akratics! The precommit-to-recommit feature is live now!  
> If any of you can read this draft of our blog post before we publish  
> it, we’d be grateful:  
> [Precommit to Recommit: The Third Great Beeminder Epiphany | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/recommit/?secretpreview)
> 
> On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 11:46 AM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com)  
> wrote:
> 
> > Resurrecting this thread about pre-commit-to-recommit (as we now call  
> > it) which we’re almost ready to deploy, after testing it on ourselves  
> > a bit more.  
> > The idea is you just have a checkbox on your goal page and if you  
> > happen to have had it checked when you derail then it just  
> > automatically rerails you.
> > 
> > Let us know if any of you want to start guineapigging it as well! (You  
> > can’t see the checkbox yet but we can, so you can just tell us to  
> > check it for you.)
> > 
> > We might wait to publicly deploy till we have some kind of “no mercy”  
> > option. Some people really hate it when they accidentally rerail with  
> > a flat spot. People who check precommit-to-recommit probably  
> > especially so.
> > 
> > There are actually 2 auxiliary binary choices to make with pre-to-re:
> > 
> > 1. flat spot? 2. rerail at same or higher pledge level? (Current  
> > defaults are Yes and Higher.)  
> > The 2nd choice isn’t as important now that we let you move up and down  
> > the pledge schedule (though not easily!)…  
> > [Pledge Short-Circuiting | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/shortcircuit)
> > 
> > On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 8:51 AM, pjh [philip@hellyer.net](mailto:philip@hellyer.net) wrote:
> > 
> > > I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
> > > up to a runaway re-commitment train!
> > > 
> > > Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
> > > lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
> > > valued goals, etc.
> > > 
> > > When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
> > > want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
> > > enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
> > > highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.
> > > 
> > > While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
> > > subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off the  
> > > road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
> > > missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
> > > decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.
> > > 
> > > That’s why my fine print carefully states:
> > > 
> > > If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
> > > extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the off-  
> > > the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk away  
> > > for $100.
> > > 
> > > (Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
> > > don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)
> > > 
> > > I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
> > > re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What this  
> > > clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
> > > decided is the right thing.
> > > 
> > > Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
> > > under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
> > > immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
> > > thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
> > > cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
> > > decision.
> > > 
> > > The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
> > > importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
> > > adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
> > > this particular goal.)
> > > 
> > > I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
> > > anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose my  
> > > inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…
> > > 
> > > Philip
> > > 
> > > On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > nice. 🙂  
> > > > now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> > > > we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> > > > (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> > > > 
> > > > still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> > > > quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> > > > to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> > > > 
> > > > it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
> > > > off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
> > > > paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
> > > > induced.
> > > > 
> > > > fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> > > > more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> > > > who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> > > > one!)
> > > > 
> > > > still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
> > > > have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> > > > going to achieve this goal.
> > > > 
> > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com) wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > sounds like a great idea.
> > > > 
> > > > > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> > > > > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > > > > decided not to do it!
> > > > 
> > > > > -j
> > > > 
> > > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves \<  
> > > > > [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com)\> wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s an  
> > > > > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > > > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all the  
> > > > > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > > > 
> > > > > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest  
> > > > > > Beeminder  
> > > > > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > > > 
> > > > > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that;  
> > > > > > just  
> > > > > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will abuse  
> > > > > > that. [1]
> > > > 
> > > > > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you  
> > > > > > derail.  
> > > > > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > > > > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > > > > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > > > > uncle. [2]
> > > > 
> > > > > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > > > > > those keeping track:  
> > > > > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > > > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > > > 
> > > > > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > > > > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > > > > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > > > 
> > > > > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > > > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > > > > Or maybe:  
> > > > > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > > > 
> > > > > > Footnotes:
> > > > 
> > > > > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > > > 
> > > > > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the  
> > > > > > definition  
> > > > > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > > > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > > > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than tweet  
> > > > > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder  
> > > > > > users  
> > > > > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > > > > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves to  
> > > > > > high standards.
> > > > 
> > > > > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now and  
> > > > > > be  
> > > > > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a  
> > > > > > goal  
> > > > > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is  
> > > > > > beeminding.
> > > > 
> > > > > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > > > > width algorithm)
> > > > 
> > > > > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > > > 
> > > > > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the  
> > > > > > beeminder blog)
> > > > 
> > > > > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > > > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify  
> > > > > > their  
> > > > > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > > > > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels  
> > > > > > of  
> > > > > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > > > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not  
> > > > > > unfreezing  
> > > > > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if  
> > > > > > those  
> > > > > > penalties were automated.
> > > > 
> > > > > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone  
> > > > > > starts  
> > > > > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging  
> > > > > > them  
> > > > > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can  
> > > > > > start  
> > > > > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > > > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only  
> > > > > > re-rail  
> > > > > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > > > 
> > > > > > –  
> > > > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > > 
> > > > –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > 
> > –  
> > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> 
> –  
> [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> 
> –  
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups  
> “Akratics Anonymous” group.  
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an  
> email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).  
> For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ben\_Goldhaber](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/ben_goldhaber/32/702_2.png) [@Ben\_Goldhaber](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/Ben_Goldhaber)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/13 "2013-02-13T00:19:44Z")

</div>

I second the yes on the ‘no mercy’ option, as well as the lack of clearly  
visible typos.

On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 7:17 PM, Roman Duda [romanduda@gmail.com](mailto:romanduda@gmail.com) wrote:

> Just read through it, couldn’t spot any typos or anything, and it  
> generally reads very well!
> 
> Also, I’m definitely voting yes on the ‘no mercy’ option!
> 
> On 13 February 2013 00:12, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:
> 
> > Hi Akratics! The precommit-to-recommit feature is live now!  
> > If any of you can read this draft of our blog post before we publish  
> > it, we’d be grateful:  
> > [Precommit to Recommit: The Third Great Beeminder Epiphany | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/recommit/?secretpreview)
> > 
> > On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 11:46 AM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com)  
> > wrote:
> > 
> > > Resurrecting this thread about pre-commit-to-recommit (as we now call  
> > > it) which we’re almost ready to deploy, after testing it on ourselves  
> > > a bit more.  
> > > The idea is you just have a checkbox on your goal page and if you  
> > > happen to have had it checked when you derail then it just  
> > > automatically rerails you.
> > > 
> > > Let us know if any of you want to start guineapigging it as well! (You  
> > > can’t see the checkbox yet but we can, so you can just tell us to  
> > > check it for you.)
> > > 
> > > We might wait to publicly deploy till we have some kind of “no mercy”  
> > > option. Some people really hate it when they accidentally rerail with  
> > > a flat spot. People who check precommit-to-recommit probably  
> > > especially so.
> > > 
> > > There are actually 2 auxiliary binary choices to make with pre-to-re:
> > > 
> > > 1. flat spot? 2. rerail at same or higher pledge level? (Current  
> > > defaults are Yes and Higher.)  
> > > The 2nd choice isn’t as important now that we let you move up and down  
> > > the pledge schedule (though not easily!)…  
> > > [Pledge Short-Circuiting | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/shortcircuit)
> > > 
> > > On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 8:51 AM, pjh [philip@hellyer.net](mailto:philip@hellyer.net) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
> > > > up to a runaway re-commitment train!
> > > > 
> > > > Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
> > > > lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
> > > > valued goals, etc.
> > > > 
> > > > When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
> > > > want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
> > > > enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
> > > > highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.
> > > > 
> > > > While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
> > > > subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off the  
> > > > road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
> > > > missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
> > > > decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.
> > > > 
> > > > That’s why my fine print carefully states:
> > > > 
> > > > If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
> > > > extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the off-  
> > > > the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk away  
> > > > for $100.
> > > > 
> > > > (Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
> > > > don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)
> > > > 
> > > > I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
> > > > re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What this  
> > > > clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
> > > > decided is the right thing.
> > > > 
> > > > Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
> > > > under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
> > > > immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
> > > > thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
> > > > cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
> > > > decision.
> > > > 
> > > > The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
> > > > importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
> > > > adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
> > > > this particular goal.)
> > > > 
> > > > I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
> > > > anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose my  
> > > > inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…
> > > > 
> > > > Philip
> > > > 
> > > > On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > nice. 🙂  
> > > > > now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> > > > > we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> > > > > (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> > > > > 
> > > > > still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> > > > > quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> > > > > to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> > > > > 
> > > > > it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
> > > > > off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
> > > > > paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
> > > > > induced.
> > > > > 
> > > > > fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> > > > > more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> > > > > who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> > > > > one!)
> > > > > 
> > > > > still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
> > > > > have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> > > > > going to achieve this goal.
> > > > > 
> > > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com) wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > sounds like a great idea.
> > > > > 
> > > > > > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> > > > > > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > > > > > decided not to do it!
> > > > > 
> > > > > > -j
> > > > > 
> > > > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves \<  
> > > > > > [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com)\> wrote:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s  
> > > > > > > an  
> > > > > > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > > > > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all  
> > > > > > > the  
> > > > > > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest  
> > > > > > > Beeminder  
> > > > > > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that;  
> > > > > > > just  
> > > > > > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will  
> > > > > > > abuse  
> > > > > > > that. [1]
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you  
> > > > > > > derail.  
> > > > > > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the  
> > > > > > > previous  
> > > > > > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > > > > > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > > > > > uncle. [2]
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany…  
> > > > > > > For  
> > > > > > > those keeping track:  
> > > > > > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > > > > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment contract  
> > > > > > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > > > > > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > > > > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > > > > > Or maybe:  
> > > > > > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > Footnotes:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the  
> > > > > > > definition  
> > > > > > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > > > > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > > > > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than  
> > > > > > > tweet  
> > > > > > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder  
> > > > > > > users  
> > > > > > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > > > > > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves  
> > > > > > > to  
> > > > > > > high standards.
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now  
> > > > > > > and be  
> > > > > > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a  
> > > > > > > goal  
> > > > > > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is  
> > > > > > > beeminding.
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > > > > > width algorithm)
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the  
> > > > > > > beeminder blog)
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > > > > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify  
> > > > > > > their  
> > > > > > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y  
> > > > > > > acts  
> > > > > > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely  
> > > > > > > weasels of  
> > > > > > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > > > > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not  
> > > > > > > unfreezing  
> > > > > > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if  
> > > > > > > those  
> > > > > > > penalties were automated.
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone  
> > > > > > > starts  
> > > > > > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging  
> > > > > > > them  
> > > > > > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can  
> > > > > > > start  
> > > > > > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > > > > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only  
> > > > > > > re-rail  
> > > > > > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > > > > 
> > > > > > > –  
> > > > > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > > > 
> > > > > –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > 
> > > –  
> > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > 
> > –  
> > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > 
> > –  
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups  
> > “Akratics Anonymous” group.  
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an  
> > email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).  
> > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).
> 
> –  
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups  
> “Akratics Anonymous” group.  
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an  
> email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).  
> For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ann\_Van\_Roy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/ann_van_roy/32/705_2.png) [@Ann\_Van\_Roy](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/Ann_Van_Roy)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 9:15am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/14 "2013-02-13T09:15:12Z")

</div>

I don’t see any typo’s…  
On the other hand, since money is here at stake, I want to be able to  
understand each and every sentence, and I must admit that I still don’t  
have a clear picture what is going to happen when I would check the ‘commit  
to recommit’-checkbox.  
I guess this is explained in the sentence: “It rerails you with a week of  
flat spot so you can get yourself back off the hook even after the  
auto-rerail happens by flattening your road again the same day.” But  
this doesn’t give me a picture that’s completely clear.  
(English isn’t my primary language after all…)

“It rerails you with a week of flat spot…” I guess this means that the  
YBR becomes flat for a week?  
But then it comes: What is ‘getting back off the hook’? (My dictionary  
tells me it means ‘escaping from a difficult situation’. And which is that  
difficult situation? Having derailed? having to pay? I guess someone who  
chooses Beeminder, did so because ‘the hook’ is the paying, but in that  
case I don’t see how I might be able to get myself back off the hook:  
checking the checkbox means that I agree to pay, even if I choose to  
abondon my goal.)

Because I don’t know exactly what to make of that expression, I don’t know  
how to understand the rest of the sentence.  
Does it mean that, even after the auto-rerail happens, you can get yourself  
back off the hook by flattening your road again the same day?  
Or is it because the auto-rerail happens by flattening the road (…) that  
you can get yourself back off the hook?  
I guess it is the second possibility, but I’m not completely sure…

I can see the rationale behind this ‘precommit to recommit’-feature, but as  
long as I’m not sure that I do understand every sentence in this article, I  
will never check that checkbox…

Vriendelijke groeten,  
Ann

[mailto:ann.van.roy@annetanne.be](mailto:ann.van.roy@annetanne.be)

> **[AnneTannes Tuin](https://annetanne.be/kruidenklets/)**
>
> AnneTannes Blog over ecologisch en biodivers tuinieren

On 13 February 2013 01:19, Ben Goldhaber [goldhaber.ben@gmail.com](mailto:goldhaber.ben@gmail.com) wrote:

> I second the yes on the ‘no mercy’ option, as well as the lack of clearly  
> visible typos.
> 
> On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 7:17 PM, Roman Duda [romanduda@gmail.com](mailto:romanduda@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > Just read through it, couldn’t spot any typos or anything, and it  
> > generally reads very well!
> > 
> > Also, I’m definitely voting yes on the ‘no mercy’ option!
> > 
> > On 13 February 2013 00:12, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > Hi Akratics! The precommit-to-recommit feature is live now!  
> > > If any of you can read this draft of our blog post before we publish  
> > > it, we’d be grateful:  
> > > [Precommit to Recommit: The Third Great Beeminder Epiphany | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/recommit/?secretpreview)
> > > 
> > > On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 11:46 AM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com)  
> > > wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Resurrecting this thread about pre-commit-to-recommit (as we now call  
> > > > it) which we’re almost ready to deploy, after testing it on ourselves  
> > > > a bit more.  
> > > > The idea is you just have a checkbox on your goal page and if you  
> > > > happen to have had it checked when you derail then it just  
> > > > automatically rerails you.
> > > > 
> > > > Let us know if any of you want to start guineapigging it as well! (You  
> > > > can’t see the checkbox yet but we can, so you can just tell us to  
> > > > check it for you.)
> > > > 
> > > > We might wait to publicly deploy till we have some kind of “no mercy”  
> > > > option. Some people really hate it when they accidentally rerail with  
> > > > a flat spot. People who check precommit-to-recommit probably  
> > > > especially so.
> > > > 
> > > > There are actually 2 auxiliary binary choices to make with pre-to-re:
> > > > 
> > > > 1. flat spot? 2. rerail at same or higher pledge level? (Current  
> > > > defaults are Yes and Higher.)  
> > > > The 2nd choice isn’t as important now that we let you move up and down  
> > > > the pledge schedule (though not easily!)…  
> > > > [Pledge Short-Circuiting | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/shortcircuit)
> > > > 
> > > > On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 8:51 AM, pjh [philip@hellyer.net](mailto:philip@hellyer.net) wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
> > > > > up to a runaway re-commitment train!
> > > > > 
> > > > > Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
> > > > > lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
> > > > > valued goals, etc.
> > > > > 
> > > > > When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
> > > > > want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
> > > > > enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
> > > > > highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.
> > > > > 
> > > > > While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
> > > > > subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off the  
> > > > > road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
> > > > > missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
> > > > > decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.
> > > > > 
> > > > > That’s why my fine print carefully states:
> > > > > 
> > > > > If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
> > > > > extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the  
> > > > > off-  
> > > > > the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk away  
> > > > > for $100.
> > > > > 
> > > > > (Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
> > > > > don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)
> > > > > 
> > > > > I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
> > > > > re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What this  
> > > > > clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
> > > > > decided is the right thing.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
> > > > > under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
> > > > > immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
> > > > > thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
> > > > > cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
> > > > > decision.
> > > > > 
> > > > > The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
> > > > > importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
> > > > > adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
> > > > > this particular goal.)
> > > > > 
> > > > > I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
> > > > > anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose my  
> > > > > inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…
> > > > > 
> > > > > Philip
> > > > > 
> > > > > On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > nice. 🙂  
> > > > > > now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> > > > > > we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> > > > > > (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> > > > > > quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> > > > > > to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to profit  
> > > > > > off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we get  
> > > > > > paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that beeminder  
> > > > > > induced.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> > > > > > more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> > > > > > who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> > > > > > one!)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where you  
> > > > > > have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> > > > > > going to achieve this goal.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com)  
> > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > sounds like a great idea.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious” feature  
> > > > > > > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > > > > > > decided not to do it!
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > -j
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves \<  
> > > > > > > [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com)\> wrote:
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s  
> > > > > > > > an  
> > > > > > > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > > > > > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all  
> > > > > > > > the  
> > > > > > > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest  
> > > > > > > > Beeminder  
> > > > > > > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that;  
> > > > > > > > just  
> > > > > > > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will  
> > > > > > > > abuse  
> > > > > > > > that. [1]
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you  
> > > > > > > > derail.  
> > > > > > > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the  
> > > > > > > > previous  
> > > > > > > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick  
> > > > > > > > road  
> > > > > > > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > > > > > > uncle. [2]
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany…  
> > > > > > > > For  
> > > > > > > > those keeping track:  
> > > > > > > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > > > > > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment  
> > > > > > > > contract  
> > > > > > > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it matters  
> > > > > > > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > > > > > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > > > > > > Or maybe:  
> > > > > > > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > Footnotes:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the  
> > > > > > > > definition  
> > > > > > > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > > > > > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > > > > > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than  
> > > > > > > > tweet  
> > > > > > > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder  
> > > > > > > > users  
> > > > > > > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a little  
> > > > > > > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves  
> > > > > > > > to  
> > > > > > > > high standards.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now  
> > > > > > > > and be  
> > > > > > > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a  
> > > > > > > > goal  
> > > > > > > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is  
> > > > > > > > beeminding.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > > > > > > width algorithm)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the  
> > > > > > > > beeminder blog)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > > > > > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify  
> > > > > > > > their  
> > > > > > > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y  
> > > > > > > > acts  
> > > > > > > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely  
> > > > > > > > weasels of  
> > > > > > > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > > > > > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not  
> > > > > > > > unfreezing  
> > > > > > > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if  
> > > > > > > > those  
> > > > > > > > penalties were automated.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone  
> > > > > > > > starts  
> > > > > > > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging  
> > > > > > > > them  
> > > > > > > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can  
> > > > > > > > start  
> > > > > > > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > > > > > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only  
> > > > > > > > re-rail  
> > > > > > > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > –  
> > > > > > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > > 
> > > > –  
> > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > 
> > > –  
> > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > 
> > > –  
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google  
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> > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send  
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> > 
> > –  
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---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dreev](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/dreev/32/4311_2.png) [@dreev](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/dreev)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/15 "2013-02-14T00:49:37Z")

</div>

Answers here first, and we’ll figure out how to amend the post or the  
hover text. Thanks for asking this stuff, Ann!

1. Yes, when you auto-rerail you will have a flat week before the  
yellow brick road starts sloping up again. (Until we add a “no mercy”  
option, but that will be a separate opti-in feature.)

2. Being on the hook means having money pledged on a goal. Without  
precommit-to-recommit, you’re no longer on the hook once you derail,  
unless you explicitly rerail yourself. With precommit-to-recommit,  
you’re automatically back on the hook again after you derail. But in a  
pretty gentle way, since it’s with that week of flat spot. So if you  
flatten the road right after derailing then you’re totally safe – the  
road starts flat for the first week and flattening it makes it flat  
starting in a week. So it would be flat forever. Which makes you  
effectively off the hook.

So I think it’s the first interpretation you suggested.

There’s probably a more straightforward way to describe this stuff.  
It’s really just automating what you _ought_ to do anyway: immediately  
dust yourself off and get back on your yellow brick road when you  
derail! And it’s all undoable so it shouldn’t be scary. It just means  
that if you do nothing, you’ll automatically be put back on your road.  
So it’s just a question of defaults. With precommit-to-recommit you  
have to say so explicitly if you want to give up on a goal and walk  
away. By default you’ll be minded indefinitely.

Is that helping? Should we say more of that on the site or in the post  
somewhere? Maybe I’ll repeat this in the comments of the post at  
least. [done]

On Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 1:15 AM, Ann Van Roy [ann.van.roy@annetanne.be](mailto:ann.van.roy@annetanne.be) wrote:

> I don’t see any typo’s…  
> On the other hand, since money is here at stake, I want to be able to  
> understand each and every sentence, and I must admit that I still don’t have  
> a clear picture what is going to happen when I would check the ‘commit to  
> recommit’-checkbox.  
> I guess this is explained in the sentence: “It rerails you with a week of  
> flat spot so you can get yourself back off the hook even after the  
> auto-rerail happens by flattening your road again the same day.” But this  
> doesn’t give me a picture that’s completely clear.  
> (English isn’t my primary language after all…)
> 
> “It rerails you with a week of flat spot…” I guess this means that the YBR  
> becomes flat for a week?  
> But then it comes: What is ‘getting back off the hook’? (My dictionary tells  
> me it means ‘escaping from a difficult situation’. And which is that  
> difficult situation? Having derailed? having to pay? I guess someone who  
> chooses Beeminder, did so because ‘the hook’ is the paying, but in that case  
> I don’t see how I might be able to get myself back off the hook: checking  
> the checkbox means that I agree to pay, even if I choose to abondon my  
> goal.)
> 
> Because I don’t know exactly what to make of that expression, I don’t know  
> how to understand the rest of the sentence.  
> Does it mean that, even after the auto-rerail happens, you can get yourself  
> back off the hook by flattening your road again the same day?  
> Or is it because the auto-rerail happens by flattening the road (…) that  
> you can get yourself back off the hook?  
> I guess it is the second possibility, but I’m not completely sure…
> 
> I can see the rationale behind this ‘precommit to recommit’-feature, but as  
> long as I’m not sure that I do understand every sentence in this article, I  
> will never check that checkbox…
> 
> Vriendelijke groeten,  
> Ann
> 
> [mailto:ann.van.roy@annetanne.be](mailto:ann.van.roy@annetanne.be)  
> [http://annetanne.be](http://annetanne.be)
> 
> On 13 February 2013 01:19, Ben Goldhaber [goldhaber.ben@gmail.com](mailto:goldhaber.ben@gmail.com) wrote:
> 
> > I second the yes on the ‘no mercy’ option, as well as the lack of clearly  
> > visible typos.
> > 
> > On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 7:17 PM, Roman Duda [romanduda@gmail.com](mailto:romanduda@gmail.com) wrote:
> > 
> > > Just read through it, couldn’t spot any typos or anything, and it  
> > > generally reads very well!
> > > 
> > > Also, I’m definitely voting yes on the ‘no mercy’ option!
> > > 
> > > On 13 February 2013 00:12, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > 
> > > > Hi Akratics! The precommit-to-recommit feature is live now!  
> > > > If any of you can read this draft of our blog post before we publish  
> > > > it, we’d be grateful:  
> > > > [Precommit to Recommit: The Third Great Beeminder Epiphany | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/recommit/?secretpreview)
> > > > 
> > > > On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 11:46 AM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com)  
> > > > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > > Resurrecting this thread about pre-commit-to-recommit (as we now call  
> > > > > it) which we’re almost ready to deploy, after testing it on ourselves  
> > > > > a bit more.  
> > > > > The idea is you just have a checkbox on your goal page and if you  
> > > > > happen to have had it checked when you derail then it just  
> > > > > automatically rerails you.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Let us know if any of you want to start guineapigging it as well! (You  
> > > > > can’t see the checkbox yet but we can, so you can just tell us to  
> > > > > check it for you.)
> > > > > 
> > > > > We might wait to publicly deploy till we have some kind of “no mercy”  
> > > > > option. Some people really hate it when they accidentally rerail with  
> > > > > a flat spot. People who check precommit-to-recommit probably  
> > > > > especially so.
> > > > > 
> > > > > There are actually 2 auxiliary binary choices to make with pre-to-re:
> > > > > 
> > > > > 1. flat spot? 2. rerail at same or higher pledge level? (Current  
> > > > > defaults are Yes and Higher.)  
> > > > > The 2nd choice isn’t as important now that we let you move up and down  
> > > > > the pledge schedule (though not easily!)…  
> > > > > [Pledge Short-Circuiting | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/shortcircuit)
> > > > > 
> > > > > On Tue, May 1, 2012 at 8:51 AM, pjh [philip@hellyer.net](mailto:philip@hellyer.net) wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > > > > I’ll stick my hand up and call it stupid, then. I don’t want to sign  
> > > > > > up to a runaway re-commitment train!
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Beeminder is a gentle mistress, more or less, reminding me of what my  
> > > > > > lucid past-self had decided, nudging me toward progressing on my  
> > > > > > valued goals, etc.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > When I fall off the road, as hard as it might be to start up again, I  
> > > > > > want it to be positively my decision to re-commit, not an automatic  
> > > > > > enrolment. And I don’t want to resume with a flat road, but with a  
> > > > > > highly-achievable slope to nudge me into rebuilding momentum.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > While on the road, Beeminder lets me take a pause or slow down,  
> > > > > > subject to the horizon delay. I can immediately stop and fall off  
> > > > > > the  
> > > > > > road, so there’s a defined cost to shortening the horizon. What’s  
> > > > > > missing is a nudging cost to control the length of time before I  
> > > > > > decide to either positively re-commit or to abandon the goal.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > That’s why my fine print carefully states:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > If I fall off this road I will give the nice folks at Beeminder an  
> > > > > > extra $50 if I don’t reinstate it within 48 hours of receiving the  
> > > > > > off-  
> > > > > > the-road email, plus $10 per day delay. Alternatively I can walk  
> > > > > > away  
> > > > > > for $100.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > (Daniel & Bethany have kindly agreed to charge me on this basis, so I  
> > > > > > don’t need to worry about the enforcement angle.)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I will already have paid the pledge for falling off the road, and in  
> > > > > > re-committing will be obliged to re-pledge a higher amount. What  
> > > > > > this  
> > > > > > clause does for me is gently encourage me to do what I’ve already  
> > > > > > decided is the right thing.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Important, I think, is that the length of time before the decision is  
> > > > > > under my own control. If I want a week’s respite, I can re-commit  
> > > > > > immediately to a flat start. If I don’t want to even think about  
> > > > > > thinking about it for a week, that’s got a defined cost. And it’s a  
> > > > > > cost that slowly & gently increases, nudging me toward making a  
> > > > > > decision.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > The disproportionate $100 for calling ‘uncle!’ re-inforces the goal’s  
> > > > > > importance independently of the current pledge level. (Might need to  
> > > > > > adjust it upwards over time, but I’m currently on a $10 pledge for  
> > > > > > this particular goal.)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I’ve used the word ‘nudge’ rather a lot, and maybe that’s because  
> > > > > > anything stronger than a gentle encouragement is going to set loose  
> > > > > > my  
> > > > > > inner weasel, whereupon Beeminder becomes worse than useless to me…
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Philip
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > On May 1, 5:07 am, Daniel Reeves [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > nice. 🙂  
> > > > > > > now we just need a couple people to chime in that this is stupid and  
> > > > > > > we’ll know we’ve nailed it!  
> > > > > > > (great ideas always seem obvious or stupid, right?)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > still mulling david’s idea. i want to solve the procrastinating  
> > > > > > > quasiweasel problem but stay unambiguously not-evil. so i don’t want  
> > > > > > > to profit off of people putting their head in the sand.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > it’s ironic because prima facie our whole business model is to  
> > > > > > > profit  
> > > > > > > off of people’s failure. but it’s actually quite the opposite: we  
> > > > > > > get  
> > > > > > > paid at the conclusion of a long string of awesomeness that  
> > > > > > > beeminder  
> > > > > > > induced.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > fun fact: 70% of people who pay us $5 do eventually re-up. and the  
> > > > > > > more you pay us the more likely you are to re-up. 100% of people  
> > > > > > > who’ve coughed up $90 have put $270 at risk. (nb: small n on that  
> > > > > > > one!)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > still, there’s something compelling about the godaddy model where  
> > > > > > > you  
> > > > > > > have to explicitly break up with us and admit that you just aren’t  
> > > > > > > going to achieve this goal.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 17:59, Jake Hofman [jhof...@gmail.com](mailto:jhof...@gmail.com)  
> > > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > sounds like a great idea.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > funny enough, i actually thought this was such an “obvious”  
> > > > > > > > feature  
> > > > > > > > that i assumed you had, of course, thought of it and intentionally  
> > > > > > > > decided not to do it!
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > -j
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:12 AM, Daniel Reeves  
> > > > > > > > [dree...@beeminder.com](mailto:dree...@beeminder.com) wrote:
> > > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > (Belying the relative silence here on Akratics Anonymous, there’s  
> > > > > > > > > an  
> > > > > > > > > insane amount going on with Beeminder right now. API, device  
> > > > > > > > > integrations, Android app, Gmail plugin, front end work, and all  
> > > > > > > > > the  
> > > > > > > > > stuff for Portland Seed Fund.)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > This is just a quick braindump / sanity check of the latest  
> > > > > > > > > Beeminder  
> > > > > > > > > epiphany. It has 2 parts:
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > 1. Scrap the whole “contract” and “sos clause” [0] and all that;  
> > > > > > > > > just  
> > > > > > > > > tweet your excuse to get off the hook. Essentially no one will  
> > > > > > > > > abuse  
> > > > > > > > > that. [1]
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you  
> > > > > > > > > derail.  
> > > > > > > > > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the  
> > > > > > > > > previous  
> > > > > > > > > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick  
> > > > > > > > > road  
> > > > > > > > > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > > > > > > > > uncle. [2]
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany…  
> > > > > > > > > For  
> > > > > > > > > those keeping track:  
> > > > > > > > > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > > > > > > > > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > (And I guess the Zeroth was the whole idea of a commitment  
> > > > > > > > > contract  
> > > > > > > > > [5], which of course we can’t take credit for. Not that it  
> > > > > > > > > matters  
> > > > > > > > > where any of these ideas come from.)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > Tentative name for this one:  
> > > > > > > > > The Weasel Principle [6]  
> > > > > > > > > Or maybe:  
> > > > > > > > > Auto Re-Railment [7]
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > Footnotes:
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > [0][Force Majeure, Or Beeminder's SOS Clause | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/sos)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > [1] It’s kind of like how we don’t have to worry about the  
> > > > > > > > > definition  
> > > > > > > > > of a “User-Visible Improvement” for our high-stakes  
> > > > > > > > > [uvi – meta – beeminder](http://beeminder.com/meta/uvi) goal. A UVI is whatever we’re not too  
> > > > > > > > > embarrassed to tweet as a UVI. We’d rather pay that $1000 than  
> > > > > > > > > tweet  
> > > > > > > > > something that reeked too strongly of weaseliness. For Beeminder  
> > > > > > > > > users  
> > > > > > > > > who didn’t, y’know, found Beeminder, the numbers might be a  
> > > > > > > > > little  
> > > > > > > > > different, but it’s the same principle. Our users hold themselves  
> > > > > > > > > to  
> > > > > > > > > high standards.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > [2] Note you can always set the goal date to be a week from now  
> > > > > > > > > and be  
> > > > > > > > > done. The rationale here is that procrastinating on unfreezing a  
> > > > > > > > > goal  
> > > > > > > > > is the biggest failure mode of the whole lifehack that is  
> > > > > > > > > beeminding.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > [3][The Magical Widening Yellow Brick Road | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/roadwidth)(nitty gritty of the road  
> > > > > > > > > width algorithm)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > [4][Flexible Self-Control | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/flexbind)(“Flexible Self-Control”)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > [5][How To Do What You Want: Akrasia and Self-Binding | Beeminder Blog](http://blog.beeminder.com/akrasia)(inaugural post on the  
> > > > > > > > > beeminder blog)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > > > > > > > > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify  
> > > > > > > > > their  
> > > > > > > > > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y  
> > > > > > > > > acts  
> > > > > > > > > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely  
> > > > > > > > > weasels of  
> > > > > > > > > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > > > > > > > > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not  
> > > > > > > > > unfreezing  
> > > > > > > > > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if  
> > > > > > > > > those  
> > > > > > > > > penalties were automated.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > [7] One loose end before we can implement this: what if someone  
> > > > > > > > > starts  
> > > > > > > > > a road and then goes completely MIA? We can’t just keep charging  
> > > > > > > > > them  
> > > > > > > > > exponentially more and more money. The auto-re-railed roads can  
> > > > > > > > > start  
> > > > > > > > > flat but then we miss the whole point – you’ll procrastinate on  
> > > > > > > > > dialing up the steepness. I’m thinking we only charge or only  
> > > > > > > > > re-rail  
> > > > > > > > > if you’re actually entering data points.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > > –  
> > > > > > > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > –[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road –[http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > > > 
> > > > > –  
> > > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > > Follow the Yellow Brick Road – [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > > 
> > > > –  
> > > > [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> > > > Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> > > > 
> > > > –  
> > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google  
> > > > Groups “Akratics Anonymous” group.  
> > > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send  
> > > > an email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).  
> > > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).
> > > 
> > > –  
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups  
> > > “Akratics Anonymous” group.  
> > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an  
> > > email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).  
> > > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).
> > 
> > –  
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups  
> > “Akratics Anonymous” group.  
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an  
> > email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).  
> > For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).
> 
> –  
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups  
> “Akratics Anonymous” group.  
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an  
> email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).  
> For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).

–  
[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![David\_Reiley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@David\_Reiley](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/David_Reiley)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/16 "2013-02-14T01:29:05Z")

</div>

On Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 4:49 PM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com)wrote:

So if you

> flatten the road right after derailing then you’re totally safe – the  
> road starts flat for the first week and flattening it makes it flat  
> starting in a week. So it would be flat forever. Which makes you  
> effectively off the hook.

What you say makes sense for to-do goals like exercise or gratitude  
journaling. But how does it work for a weight-loss contract? Does the  
precommit idea bind me to never losing weight again unless I remember to  
change my goal to allow a bigger safety buffer?

–  
David Reiley is a Research Scientist at Google  
Learn more about me at [http://www.davidreiley.com](http://www.davidreiley.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dreev](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/dreev/32/4311_2.png) [@dreev](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/dreev)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/17 "2013-02-14T03:08:55Z")

</div>

> What you say makes sense for to-do goals like exercise or gratitude  
> journaling. But how does it work for a weight-loss contract? Does the  
> precommit idea bind me to never losing weight again unless I remember to  
> change my goal to allow a bigger safety buffer?

No, it should jump to your new weight at the time of derailment, be  
flat for a week, then continue at your previous rate.

–  
[http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![David\_Reiley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@David\_Reiley](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/David_Reiley)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/18 "2013-02-14T03:25:43Z")

</div>

Ahem. I meant “never gaining weight again.” But I see. With the akrasia horizon set at one week, this should not be a problem.

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 13, 2013, at 7:08 PM, Daniel Reeves [dreeves@beeminder.com](mailto:dreeves@beeminder.com) wrote:

> > What you say makes sense for to-do goals like exercise or gratitude  
> > journaling. But how does it work for a weight-loss contract? Does the  
> > precommit idea bind me to never losing weight again unless I remember to  
> > change my goal to allow a bigger safety buffer?
> 
> No, it should jump to your new weight at the time of derailment, be  
> flat for a week, then continue at your previous rate.
> 
> –  
> [http://dreev.es](http://dreev.es) – search://“Daniel Reeves”  
> Goal tracking + Commitment contracts == [http://beeminder.com](http://beeminder.com)
> 
> –  
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Akratics Anonymous” group.  
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com](mailto:akratics+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).  
> For more options, visit [https://groups.google.com/groups/opt\_out](https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![boardtc](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/boardtc/32/66_2.png) [@boardtc](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/boardtc)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 10:36am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/19 "2013-03-12T10:36:26Z")

</div>

Ahh! I can identify with the meta contract idea, I had not come up with it  
myself but I knew I needed something.

For me this ties in with having a continue option when restarting  
a derailment, as restarting is too cumbersome at the minute imho, and so I  
have let some slide.

I would suggest the next level each time is adding another increment of the  
initial pledge rather than a double/triple.

Tom.

On Monday, 30 April 2012 06:12:03 UTC+1, Daniel Reeves wrote:

> 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> uncle. [2]
> 
> We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> those keeping track:  
> First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> 
> Tentative name for this one:  
> The Weasel Principle [6]
> 
> [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> penalties were automated.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Essentiae1](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/essentiae1/32/701_2.png) [@Essentiae1](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/Essentiae1)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368/20 "2013-04-13T19:45:50Z")

</div>

So, I have a question that will reveal my tendency  
towards hyper-vigilance… I really like the idea, but am nervous about the  
implications of something like a major personal crisis on my credit card  
(…or if you turn “major” up quite a lot, on my estate!). What kind of  
safety features are in place if someone just stops entering data? This has  
been the reason that I’ve avoided ever checking that box.

On Tuesday, March 12, 2013 6:36:26 AM UTC-4, boardtc wrote:

> Ahh! I can identify with the meta contract idea, I had not come up with it  
> myself but I knew I needed something.
> 
> For me this ties in with having a continue option when restarting  
> a derailment, as restarting is too cumbersome at the minute imho, and so I  
> have let some slide.
> 
> I would suggest the next level each time is adding another increment of  
> the initial pledge rather than a double/triple.
> 
> Tom.
> 
> On Monday, 30 April 2012 06:12:03 UTC+1, Daniel Reeves wrote:
> 
> > 1. You automatically advance to the next pledge level when you derail.  
> > I.e., by default you automatically re-pledge (at triple the previous  
> > pledge) unless you explicitly opt-out. Starting a yellow brick road  
> > means you’re committed till you reach the goal or explicitly cry  
> > uncle. [2]
> > 
> > We’re thinking this may be the Third Great Beeminder Epiphany… For  
> > those keeping track:  
> > First Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Yellow Brick Road [3]  
> > Second Great Beeminder Epiphany: The Akrasia Horizon [4]
> > 
> > Tentative name for this one:  
> > The Weasel Principle [6]
> > 
> > [6] So called because the heart of the epiphany is that Beeminder  
> > users are distinctly unweasel-y (for example, they won’t falsify their  
> > data to avoid coughing up a pledge). They don’t commit weasel-y acts  
> > – they’re not weasels of commission – but they are surely weasels of  
> > omission. The lightbulb moment was when a user set up a meta  
> > commitment contract to impose penalties on themself for not unfreezing  
> > derailed goals. I realized that that would probably only work if those  
> > penalties were automated.

[Next page](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/beeminder-epiphany-auto-re-pledge-with-easy-opt-out/1368.md?page=2)