Need to Know How Charitable You Are? There's an App for That

Chapter 3 of SuperFreakonomics, called “Unbelievable Stories About Apathy and Altruism,” takes a look at the research of John List (the Univ. of Chicago economist, not the notorious murderer of the same same — although the same chapter does cast a new light on a famous murder as well). List’s research challenges the prevailing wisdom on a few decades’ worth of lab experiments which seemed to prove that human beings are innately fair or even altruistic. Much of this research concerns a pair of lab games called Ultimatum and Dictator. If you want to see how altruistic or charitable you are in the context of these games, the time has come: here’s where you can download a free app that lets you join the fun. And here’s what it looks like: