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> What about human feelings (e.g. mental/physical health)? Are those important in evaluating experiences? If, and only if, they have a monetary effect. For ex
by mmirate 9y ago
> What about human feelings (e.g. mental/physical health)? Are those important in evaluating experiences?
If, and only if, they have a monetary effect.
For example a professional foot-racer becoming more healthy by X amount means the expected value of him/her running a race increases by some $Y amount (due to higher probability of winning a [higher] prize).
> The definition of opportunity cost does not mandate that the "cost" is monetary.
The cost in-question is important if and only if it is equivalent to some loss of (monetary) value.
- wu-ikkyu 9y agoWhat is the monetary effect of a beautiful sunset and the warmth of a lover's embrace?
- mmirate 9y agoGenerally, both zero. Some exceptions: To someone suffering depression or similar mental troubles, both may be worth potentially the entirety of possible future lifetime earnings, potentially zero ... or potentially some trivial amount in between due to, say, reduced frequency of making mistakes. What is the extent that (a) you value passing your assets to a child/descendant upon death, (b) you don't have a (living) child, and (c) you expect to have a legitimate child with that lover in the future? That is precisely the extent to which the warmth of a lover's embrace is valuable to you. But I expect that item "(a)" is zero for most people, including myself, so generally the value is still zero. (I consider death to be an ultimate loss of everything, no matter what kind of other-person, descendant or otherwise, ends up in possession of what I owned whilst I lived. ... Of course, if one's balance sheet were negative and one had no expectation of being able to remedy that situation, then death would not seem so bad...)