I'm not sure that fairness is a stupid metric, even though it is often an irrational one. Humans are evolved to be exquisitely sensitive to unfairness, and unf

I'm not sure that fairness is a stupid metric, even though it is often an irrational one. Humans are evolved to be exquisitely sensitive to unfairness, and unfairness outside of acceptable ranges leads to a lot of human misery (envy) and poor decision-making (e.g. Communism). I think engineering a society that humans enjoy or at least tolerate is easier than engineering humans. Also, I think the relative numbers matter here. If every American receives $100, but 100 Americans receive $100 billion, which they then use to engage in zero-sum competition (status, political power, mates, land), you may experience a net decrease in utility.