4 ms·

So by that logic, is my life worthless?

an_ko 8y ago
To live your life, you gave up the opportunity to live someone else's. So clearly your life is worth at least as much as anyone else's. Other people seem to act as though their lives have value, though unfortunately none of them can explain why either, except perhaps by themselves observing others treating their lives with value, and circularly repeating this argument. Want to bet on this human self-worth pyramid scheme? We guarantee you a 5000% return on your investment. Eventually. Maybe. Sign here! Congratulations, your life has value now, as long as you Believe™. Your other options are (a) suicide, or (b) becoming a nihilist, which is like suicide but with more thinking.
vinchuco 8y ago
At zero, yes. But you're also forced to give it up[]. Strange, really. []unless we reverse aging soon
analog31 8y ago
Are you a middle manager? ;-) The middle managers are perpetually faced with the prospect that if they choose A, they have to give up B, which is of equal value (within reasonable error bounds). This is a very real part of their lives. They remind us about opportunity cost, which turns out to be one more thing that they can't hope to calculate. At the end of the day, the average effect of their decision making is net zero.
- carlivar 8y ago
  This doesn't account for the time itself to make a decision. Many middle managers in organizations are not trained or empowered to make decisions quickly. This has serious opportunity cost of time. Nimble organizations make fast decisions which may have an eventual zero sum effect but at least gets there more efficiently, eh?
  - analog31 8y ago
    Indeed! Lack of decision making power can cripple a business. When everybody knows that any decision can be spontaneously vetoed, then people stop making decisions, and they also stop believing decisions. And I think part of what cripples decision making is in fact the fear of opportunity cost, because every decision requires considering an infinite number of alternatives.

To live your life, you gave up the opportunity to live someone else's. So clearly your life is worth at least as much as anyone else's. Other people seem to act as though their lives have value, though unfortunately none of them can explain why either, except perhaps by themselves observing others treating their lives with value, and circularly repeating this argument. Want to bet on this human self-worth pyramid scheme? We guarantee you a 5000% return on your investment. Eventually. Maybe. Sign here! Congratulations, your life has value now, as long as you Believe™. Your other options are (a) suicide, or (b) becoming a nihilist, which is like suicide but with more thinking.

vinchuco 8y ago

At zero, yes. But you're also forced to give it up[]. Strange, really. []unless we reverse aging soon

analog31 8y ago

Are you a middle manager? ;-) The middle managers are perpetually faced with the prospect that if they choose A, they have to give up B, which is of equal value (within reasonable error bounds). This is a very real part of their lives. They remind us about opportunity cost, which turns out to be one more thing that they can't hope to calculate. At the end of the day, the average effect of their decision making is net zero.

carlivar 8y ago
This doesn't account for the time itself to make a decision. Many middle managers in organizations are not trained or empowered to make decisions quickly. This has serious opportunity cost of time. Nimble organizations make fast decisions which may have an eventual zero sum effect but at least gets there more efficiently, eh?
- analog31 8y ago
  Indeed! Lack of decision making power can cripple a business. When everybody knows that any decision can be spontaneously vetoed, then people stop making decisions, and they also stop believing decisions. And I think part of what cripples decision making is in fact the fear of opportunity cost, because every decision requires considering an infinite number of alternatives.