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Strangely, There doesn't have to be just one with a lower score than the others. One of the weirdest things about being human is that our preferences are neith
by compiler-guy 4y ago
Strangely, There doesn't have to be just one with a lower score than the others.
One of the weirdest things about being human is that our preferences are neither rational nor consistent. The classic example in behavioural economics is with ice-cream flavors. If I prefer chocolate to strawberry and strawberry to vanilla, it doesn't follow that I prefer chocolate to vanilla. The preferences aren't transitive, and there doesn't exist a total preferences order.
- Brusco_RF 4y agoThats a very interesting point that I've never considered. Where can I read more about that? Is there a study you can link me to?
- compiler-guy 4y agohttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11483173/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11483173/ is one such study. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/preferences/#Tra https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/preferences/#Tra has an overview, note especially the paragraph about pair-wise comparisons.
- imtringued 4y agoBut economists assume that preferences have a total order otherwise there wouldn't be a utility curve.
- compiler-guy 4y agoEconomists assume a utility curve in the same way that physicists assume spherical cows. They are a useful abstraction which help explain many things, but don't reflect reality completely. https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/BehavioralEconomics.html https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/BehavioralEconomics.html