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Given two technically and aesthetically identical products A and B, if A manages to get significantly more funding, better management and outreach, it will prob
by steinsgate 11y ago
Given two technically and aesthetically identical products A and B, if A manages to get significantly more funding, better management and outreach, it will probably sell more. We would say that the market thinks that A is more valuable. But A and B are identical products, so where is the difference in value coming from?
I think funding, management and outreach all depend on human resources behind the product, most importantly, the team of founders. They have to get the funding, manage the company and communicate well to customers. If the founders are "high value", they can imbibe the product with some of this "value".
A system of computing values, which includes this "human value" is problematic. In this system, the value of the Nazi philosophy, let's say, would depend on the person propagating it. A charismatic leader like Hitler brainwashed a lot of people into believing its legitimacy, thereby increasing the value of the philosophy. The same philosophy, in the hands of someone else, might not have gained any foothold.
When we talk about equal opportunity, we talk about resources like money. But human resource can also play a huge impact in determining the value of a product. I do not know what the definition of equal opportunity in the context of "human value" should be. It is clear that a certain class of people possess more "human value" than others, and there is an inequality because of this. The question is : where does this value/inequality arise from? And should society continue including this in the computation of value, or should we construct rules where this value is suppressed?
In summary, the market is not a detached entity judging value, but it can be influenced by "high value" people to go in a certain direction.
- Natsu 11y agoAnother name for that "human value" you discuss would be "influence." I don't know of any system immune to that. Some proposals, like the one in China to have a "social currency" system (i.e. the government gives you money for promoting their ideals) seem more likely to promote the value of influence rather than decreasing it so I'm not even sure if there's an agreement over whether it's good or bad. Honestly, I suspect it depends on the positions of the person with it: that is, people will be unhappy when people they don't agree with have a lot of influence and happy when people they do agree with have a lot of influence.
- steinsgate 11y agoYes, influence is a closely related concept. However, I think of influence more as an effect of "human value" rather than being the value itself. An example : Mark Zuckerberg did not have significant influence before he started Facebook. But he had the value even before he started Facebook. This "value" I am talking of comprises of , among other things, peers, habits, worldview, drive, social understanding etc. of the person in question.
- ap3 11y agoHow about Harvard vs a local community college?