I feel a bit confused reading this. The notion of an expected utility maximiser is standard in game theory and economics. Or maybe you find the concept unsatisfactory in some other way?
The latter. Optimization is more general than expected utility maximization. By applying expected utility theory, one is trying to minimize the expected distance to a set of conditions (goal), rather than distance to a set of conditions (state) in abstract general sense.
The original post (OP) is about refactoring the knowledge tree in order to make the discussions less biased and more accessible across disciplines. For example, the use of abbreviations like “OP” may make it less accessible across audiences. Similarly, using well-defined concepts like “agent” may make discussions less accessible to those who know just informal definitions (similar to how the mathematical abstractions of point and interval may be confusing to the un-initiated).
The concepts of “states” and “processes” may be less confusing, because they are generic, and don’t seem to have other interpretations within similar domains in everyday life, unlike “environments”, “agents”, “intervals”, “points” and “goals” do.
The latter. Optimization is more general than expected utility maximization. By applying expected utility theory, one is trying to minimize the expected distance to a set of conditions (goal), rather than distance to a set of conditions (state) in abstract general sense.
The original post (OP) is about refactoring the knowledge tree in order to make the discussions less biased and more accessible across disciplines. For example, the use of abbreviations like “OP” may make it less accessible across audiences. Similarly, using well-defined concepts like “agent” may make discussions less accessible to those who know just informal definitions (similar to how the mathematical abstractions of point and interval may be confusing to the un-initiated).
The concepts of “states” and “processes” may be less confusing, because they are generic, and don’t seem to have other interpretations within similar domains in everyday life, unlike “environments”, “agents”, “intervals”, “points” and “goals” do.
Are you the same person as the author of the top-level post? (You seem to have a different username)