Perhaps one way to improve the measurement would be to structure the question in terms of preference rather than direct measurement—something like “what is the least-good thing I’d rather be doing right now” (ie as a kind of upper bound to current happiness). But there’s also an issue of energy level etc.
Perhaps one way to improve the measurement would be to structure the question in terms of preference rather than direct measurement
This is a really cool idea. But even preference has issues. For example, I like contra dance (a kind of social dancing) a lot, and have a good time when I go. The feel in the moment is one of my favorite things. If you asked me, “would you rather be contra dancing” I would usually say yes. But if you look at my behavior, I don’t actually go that often anymore, even when I do have free time. How do you tell the difference between me irrationally underconsuming something I enjoy vs me overestimating how much I enjoy it in posed comparisions?
For certain formulations of this, that objection seems irrelevant. Imagine that instead of a 1-10 scale, you had a ranked list of activities (or sets of activities).
Perhaps one way to improve the measurement would be to structure the question in terms of preference rather than direct measurement—something like “what is the least-good thing I’d rather be doing right now” (ie as a kind of upper bound to current happiness). But there’s also an issue of energy level etc.
This is a really cool idea. But even preference has issues. For example, I like contra dance (a kind of social dancing) a lot, and have a good time when I go. The feel in the moment is one of my favorite things. If you asked me, “would you rather be contra dancing” I would usually say yes. But if you look at my behavior, I don’t actually go that often anymore, even when I do have free time. How do you tell the difference between me irrationally underconsuming something I enjoy vs me overestimating how much I enjoy it in posed comparisions?
For certain formulations of this, that objection seems irrelevant. Imagine that instead of a 1-10 scale, you had a ranked list of activities (or sets of activities).
Like opportunity cost in economics.
Max L.