vault backup: 2026-03-03 14:58:23

2026-03-03 14:58:23 -05:00
parent ccd51d7685
commit a62b1a701a
25 changed files with 108 additions and 43 deletions
@@ -13,11 +13,18 @@ dg-publish: true
 # Utility

 [Utility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility)
-is a measure of a party's satisfaction
+is a measure of a party's **satisfaction**
 with a certain state of the world.

 The measure is intended to account for unintuitive quirks of human perception of value.
-A rich man is not as satisfied with receiving one dollar as a poor man,
+A rich man is not as _satisfied_ by receiving one dollar as a poor man would be,
 therefore the utility of the dollar is contextual, not objective.

 [Sorites paradox in utility theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorites_paradox#Resolutions_in_utility_theory)
+
+## Normative and Descriptive Utility
+
+**Normative utility** is utility as self-reported,
+subject to the biases of the party.
+
+**Descriptive utility** is utility as determined from the party's behavior.