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Ordinal Utility
economics is not a science and this can help explain why... | |
This is a nifty little idea for economics students so they can understand how silly utilitarianism can be. This web site is established to, in an interactive, neat sort of way, explain and give an example of ordinal utility.
I propose a web sites with (to begin with) one hundred commonly understood
nouns like "Mondays", "pornography", "bunny rabbits", "mobile phone ring tones", "McDonalds fast food restaurant chain", et cetera.
Each time a user visits the web site and logs in they are faced with a simple question: "Which do you like more, [nounX] or [nounY]?" For example, "Which do you like more Mondays or pornography?" The user chooses which they like more, and as in a bubble sort algorithm, the list items are swapped. (The algorithm used is arbitrary, so long as the most liked items float to the top of the list, and the least liked to the bottom.) If this is done often enough by a wide enough group of people, theoretically, we can obtain a snapshot of most people's preferences.
Glossary
http://users.bigpon...ew/hb/glossary.html
[sdm, Sep 02 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
streamofconciousness dotcom ver2
http://www.futurebi...rdstream/index.php3
I'm betting futurebird makes this site first [reensure, Sep 02 2001]
an implementation
http://procrastitro...scripts/utility.php
Look at this, you'll get the picture. [sdm, Sep 02 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]
whatsbetter.com
http://www.whatsbetter.com
Baked. This website does exactly that. At time of writing, Christina Ricci is top, Pedophile Priests bottom. [pottedstu, Jun 20 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]
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But, but, but, the vocal Monday minority will discover your site and through various schemes (ballot-stuffing) vote Monday's to the top of the list. Thus the only thing you can be sure of is the preferences of those people who visit your site. |
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ssh. Don't spoil the surprise. Aside from being ponderous (what would happen if you put "love" and "sex" in the list?) This idea is supposed to constitute a lesson in the frivolity of so-called classical economic thought. |
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"Please explain?" Actually, don't. Couldn't resist the sound bite... |
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Of course, if we accept that economics is not a science (just as we apparently accept that it is not a plural), whatever becomes of its catchy nickname? Do we call it "the dismal pseudoscience?"... "the dismal humbug?"... "metaphorica mathematica?"... "the propagandistics of boredom?" Or worse, "the dismal art?" |
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It's science, in that it is the science of determining under what well defined set of conditions an individual will make the worst possible bet. |
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Acceptance of the notion that economic forces are like chimeras, either well behaved mules or ill mannered bastards, has led thinking people to desert their study and pursue counting cash. |
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What would be the incentive for surfers to visit this website? |
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joarvat: Pictures of Christina Ricci in a bikini, apparently. |
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