The general idea of the received theory is that individuals act in their
own best interests.
Which implicitly assumes that individuals KNOW their own best interests.
But if individuals are "satisficing," they can't truly have learned their
own best interests.
So individuals may not really be acting in their own best interests, as
the received theory tells us.
(Of course-- they might still Believe that they Know what's in their own
best interests.)
George Vlastos' writings on Socrates makes me think that Socrates might
have concurred.
Cutting away Socrates from Plato (Plato's ideas cover Socrates'), Vlastos
makes it clear to me-- more than anyone else has been able to-- that
Socrates believed the cause of "unhappy" events is simply individuals not
KNOWING what's in their own best interests.
In other words, if an individual were really to learn what is in his or
her own best interests, then their acting appropriately would result in
happiness (the desired feeling).
On the other hand, for example, say that a thief believes that stealing is
in his own best interests, and that stealing will therefore make him
happy.
So he steals.
But since (in this example) stealing is NOT in his own best interests, he
is frustrated, not happy.
Still seeking the desired feeling-- and since his beliefs have not changed
in the slightest-- he once again steals.
Which frustrates him.
His beliefs still haven't changed, and since he's still seeking the
desired feeling, he once again steals.
Which frustrates him.
And so on, and so on, and so on.
What emerges from this (for me) new understanding of Socrates is perhaps
an interesting idea about economies and organizations.
The optimal economy would be one in which every individual really knows
what's in his or her own best interests.
The optimal organization would be one in which every individual really
knows what's in his or her own best interests.
Of course, the optimal economy or organization is just an idea.
But say that Socrates was a very successful teacher-- that he really
helped his students to learn what was truly in their own best interests.
If so, then (even though we all might "satisfice" to some extent) there
does exist the possibility that an individual can learn, better and better
over time, what is really in their own best interests.
So I wonder what the observable differences might be between economies (or
organizations) where one, compared to the others, has a greater (or
lesser) number of individuals who really know what's in their own best
interests.
Lee Bloomquist
--Lee Bloomquist <LBLOOMQUIST/0005099717@MCIMAIL.COM>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>