Lee,
> Another hole in utility theory/economics because of "satisficing"--
>
> 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.
I use a slight modification of the theory, which patches this hole for
me: Individuals act in what they perceive to be their best interests.
As you point out, we do not always know our own best interest. Once I get
what I thought I wanted, I may find out that I don't value it as much as I
thought I would. Every "three wishes" children's story makes that point.
Even if I could know what is in my best interest, that wouldn't guarantee
that I could achieve my best interest. Sometimes the things I do don't
have the results I expected.
> 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.
Happiness is the best measure I know, though it doesn't meet your
"observable" criterion. I may have indirect ways of knowing whether
someone else is happy, but I can directly observe happiness only in
myself. Maybe that's a good thing, because reminds me not to fall into
the trap of believing I can know what is in anyone else's best interest.
Regards,
Dale
--Dale H. Emery -- Collaborative Consultant High Performance for Software Development Projects E-mail: dale@dhemery.com Web: http://www.dhemery.com
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