The Utility Curve
February 7th, 2010So I am pretty darn swamped with school right now… In an attempt to mix business with pleasure, I am going to take a moment to talk about the utility curve. The utility curve is something used in economics and decision theory, as well as some other areas of business (and probably other areas as well). An ordinary person has a concave (bending away from you if you are standing underneath it… like a dome concert stadium) utility curve. It looks something like this:
“Utility” is basically the joy you get from gaining some material object. When you have nothing, gaining utility from an object is really easy. When you have a lot, gaining utility from an object is really hard.
Think of it as… you just ate a spoonful of peanut butter. That first glass of milk you had was absolutely AMAZING (lots of utility) and then you have another glass and it was pretty good (some utility) and then you have another glass and it was okay (a little utility) and then you have another glass and it was eh (hardly any utility).
The point of this post is to say… I am so glad I didn’t grow up having everything I wanted. I see people around me who get everything they want and get so little utility and joy out of the shit they have, and it just makes me sad. They end up acting in extreme ways, trying to gain utility where there is nothing to be gained.
I can still dream and want and strive. I am so happy that I am still at a point in my life where I gain joy out of most things and can stay positive. Even though there are so many amazing things I want to do, I’m very glad I am pacing myself. I am so happy that I am still drinking my first glass of milk.
I probably won’t be updating for a few days because of school… hope you are all doing lovely :].
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