Yeah, the utility lottery is a bizarre lottery. For one thing, even if it’s only conducted in monetary payoffs, both the price of the ticket and the amount of money you win depends on your overall well-being. In particular, if you’re on the edge of starvation, the ticket would become close to (but not quite) free.
I can’t imagine how it could be conducted in monetary payoffs, at least without a restrictive upper bound. Not only does the added utility of money decrease with scale, but you can only get so much utility out of money in a finite economy.
I’d be a bit surprised if, outside a certain range, utilons can be described as a function of money at all.
I’m really enjoying the contrast between your comment and mine.
It’s not every day that the same comment can elicit “By definition, this just can’t be true of anyone” and “Yeah, I think this is true of me.”
Yeah, the utility lottery is a bizarre lottery. For one thing, even if it’s only conducted in monetary payoffs, both the price of the ticket and the amount of money you win depends on your overall well-being. In particular, if you’re on the edge of starvation, the ticket would become close to (but not quite) free.
I can’t imagine how it could be conducted in monetary payoffs, at least without a restrictive upper bound. Not only does the added utility of money decrease with scale, but you can only get so much utility out of money in a finite economy.
I’d be a bit surprised if, outside a certain range, utilons can be described as a function of money at all.