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Re:Guess I'm a Rationalist Now by PaulHoule on Thursday June 19, 2025 @09:54PM (#44324079)
What makes it really bad is that you can't add different people's utility functions, or for that matter, multiply the utility function of some imagined galactic citizen by some astronomical amount. The question of "what distribution of wealth maximizes welfare" [1] is unanswerable in that framework and we're left with the Randian maxim that any transaction freely entered into is "fair" because nobody would enter into it if it didn't increase their utility function.

[1] Though you might come to the conclusion that greeder people should have the money because they like it more

Re:Guess I'm a Rationalist Now by gsf_emergency_2 on Thursday June 19, 2025 @10:04PM (#44324114)
Comic sophism ain't gonna make hypernormies reconsider lol

(Aside from the semi-tragic one to consider additive dilogarithms..)

One actionable (utility agnostic) suggestion: study the measureable consequences of (quantifiable) policy on carbon pricing, because this is already quite close to the uncontroversial bits

Re:Guess I'm a Rationalist Now by gsf_emergency_2 on Friday June 20, 2025 @06:37AM (#44326428)
E.g. precisely how inflationary can we make carbon credits?

E: by "uncontroversial", I meant amongst the Orthodox econs, so not Graeber & sympathetic heterodox.