Boundaries are information-theoretic and more objective in that they are (often) inter-subjectively observable just by counting bits of mutual information between variables, whereas preferences a subjective and observable only indirectly through behavior.
This feels wrong to me, but the feeling is a little fuzzy. Maybe I disagree with the emphasis or the framing, or something.
Preferences are instantiated in the world just like anything else. And they might be entirely visible; there’s no reason you couldn’t have a system whose preferences are on display (like reading the source code of a program). But I would grant that they’re not usually on display, especially for humans, and so you do have to infer them through behavior (although that can include the person telling you what they are, or otherwise agreeably taking actions that are strong evidence of their preferences).
In contrast, boundaries are usually evident from the outside, even if they obscure what’s happening on the inside. And if preferences are not directly visible, then they’re probably inside a boundary, in which case the boundary is easier to detect and verify than the preferences.
This feels wrong to me, but the feeling is a little fuzzy. Maybe I disagree with the emphasis or the framing, or something.
Preferences are instantiated in the world just like anything else. And they might be entirely visible; there’s no reason you couldn’t have a system whose preferences are on display (like reading the source code of a program). But I would grant that they’re not usually on display, especially for humans, and so you do have to infer them through behavior (although that can include the person telling you what they are, or otherwise agreeably taking actions that are strong evidence of their preferences).
In contrast, boundaries are usually evident from the outside, even if they obscure what’s happening on the inside. And if preferences are not directly visible, then they’re probably inside a boundary, in which case the boundary is easier to detect and verify than the preferences.