"...perhaps we should hate the universe."http://fakenous.net/?p=261
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I understand this in a rudimentary way. But is this a foundational issue inherent in the math or does it depend on how of utility is understood? If "utils" are posited as discrete metric units, does addition apply in theory? Not saying that's my view.
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Economists are aware of the difference between cardinal and ordinal utility (eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility#Functions … has a good discussion) and cardinal utility is mostly obsolete.
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The real point is that ordinal utility (apple is better/worse than slamming my fingers in a car door) is a much weaker structure and requires much less information than cardinal utility (4 apples + slamming my fingers in a car door ?=? your stubbed toe)...
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...which means ordinal is easier to use without making mistakes. Cardinal is more powerful and makes it easier to prove things, which is *bad*, because it lets you prove things that aren't true.
End of conversation
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You can say X is worse than Y, but it probably doesn't mean anything to say X is negative, and it very likely doesn't mean anything to talk about sums of utilities.
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Your intuition is correct, though. Throwing around infinities is a meaning shredder.
End of conversation
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. Banned in Sweden. SubGenius, Zhuangist, white-hat troll. Defrocked mathematician. Brain problems.