That’s not satisficing because I don’t take the first option alternative that is good enough. That’s also not maximizing as I am not committed to searching for the global optimum.
I agree: It’s neither pure satisficing nor pure maximizing. Generally speaking, in the real world it’s probably very hard to find (non-contrived) instances of pure satisficing or pure maximizing. In reality, people fall on a continuum from pure satisficers to pure maximizers (I did acknowledge this in footnotes 1 and 2, but I probably should have been clearer).
But I think it makes sense to assert that certain people exhibit more satisficer-characteristics and others exhibit more maximizer-characteristics. For example, imagine that Anna travels to 127 different countries and goes to over 2500 different cafes to find the best chocolate cookie. Anna could be meaningfully described as a “cookie-maximizer”, even if she gave up after 10 years of cookie-searching although she wasn’t able to find the best chocolate cookie on planet Earth. :)
Somewhat relatedly, someone might be a maximizer in a certain domain, but a satisficer in another domain. I’m for example a satisficer when it comes to food and interior decoration, but (more of) a maximizer in other domains.
in the real world it’s probably very hard to find (non-contrived) instances of pure satisficing or pure maximizing.
That’s not true—for example, in cases where the search costs for the full space are trivial, pure maximizing is very common.
In reality, people fall on a continuum from pure satisficers to pure maximizers
My objection is stronger. The behavior of optimizing for (gain—cost) does NOT lie on the continuum between satisficing and maximizing as defined in your post, primarily because they have no concept of the cost of search.
Anna could be meaningfully described as a “cookie-maximizer”
Then define “maximizing” in a way that will let you call Anna a maximizer.
That’s not true—for example, in cases where the search costs for the full space are trivial, pure maximizing is very common.
Ok, sure. I probably should have written that pure maximizing or satisficing is hard to find in important, complex and non-contrived instances. I had in mind such domains as career, ethics, romance, and so on. I think it’s hard to find a pure maximizer or satisficer here.
My objection is stronger. The behavior of optimizing for (gain—cost) does NOT lie on the continuum between satisficing and maximizing as defined in your post, primarily because they have no concept of the cost of search.
Sorry, I fear that I don’t completely understand your point. Do you agree that there are individual differences in people, such that some people tend to search longer for a better solution and other people are more easily satisfied with their circumstances – be it their career, their love life or the world in general?
Maybe I should have tried an operationalized definition: Maximizers are people who get high scores on this maximization scale (page 1182) and satisficers are people who get low scores.
Sorry, I fear that I don’t completely understand your point. Do you agree that there are individual differences in people, such that some people tend to search longer for a better solution and other people are more easily satisfied with their circumstances
Yes, I agree that there are individual differences in people. But your post is, at its core, not about people, it’s about decision strategies or algorithms. You defined them in a particular way. I am, essentially, saying that your definitions have some issues.
But note that if you “operationalize” your definitions, you switch what is being defined—from algorithms to humans, and these are very very different things.
Continuing my previous comment
I agree: It’s neither pure satisficing nor pure maximizing. Generally speaking, in the real world it’s probably very hard to find (non-contrived) instances of pure satisficing or pure maximizing. In reality, people fall on a continuum from pure satisficers to pure maximizers (I did acknowledge this in footnotes 1 and 2, but I probably should have been clearer).
But I think it makes sense to assert that certain people exhibit more satisficer-characteristics and others exhibit more maximizer-characteristics. For example, imagine that Anna travels to 127 different countries and goes to over 2500 different cafes to find the best chocolate cookie. Anna could be meaningfully described as a “cookie-maximizer”, even if she gave up after 10 years of cookie-searching although she wasn’t able to find the best chocolate cookie on planet Earth. :)
Somewhat relatedly, someone might be a maximizer in a certain domain, but a satisficer in another domain. I’m for example a satisficer when it comes to food and interior decoration, but (more of) a maximizer in other domains.
That’s not true—for example, in cases where the search costs for the full space are trivial, pure maximizing is very common.
My objection is stronger. The behavior of optimizing for (gain—cost) does NOT lie on the continuum between satisficing and maximizing as defined in your post, primarily because they have no concept of the cost of search.
Then define “maximizing” in a way that will let you call Anna a maximizer.
Ok, sure. I probably should have written that pure maximizing or satisficing is hard to find in important, complex and non-contrived instances. I had in mind such domains as career, ethics, romance, and so on. I think it’s hard to find a pure maximizer or satisficer here.
Sorry, I fear that I don’t completely understand your point. Do you agree that there are individual differences in people, such that some people tend to search longer for a better solution and other people are more easily satisfied with their circumstances – be it their career, their love life or the world in general?
Maybe I should have tried an operationalized definition: Maximizers are people who get high scores on this maximization scale (page 1182) and satisficers are people who get low scores.
Yes, I agree that there are individual differences in people. But your post is, at its core, not about people, it’s about decision strategies or algorithms. You defined them in a particular way. I am, essentially, saying that your definitions have some issues.
But note that if you “operationalize” your definitions, you switch what is being defined—from algorithms to humans, and these are very very different things.