#Utility theory

[omegaphilosophia]

Theories of the Philosophy of Microeconomics

The philosophy of microeconomics encompasses various theories and approaches that seek to understand the principles, assumptions, and implications of individual decision-making within the context of markets and economic systems. Some key theories in the philosophy of microeconomics include:

Rational Choice Theory: Rational choice theory posits that individuals make decisions by maximizing utility or satisfaction given their preferences, constraints, and available information. It assumes that individuals act in their self-interest and make choices that maximize their well-being.

Marginalism: Marginalism examines how individuals make decisions at the margin, weighing the benefits and costs of small changes or incremental units of goods and services. It emphasizes the importance of marginal analysis in determining optimal decision-making and resource allocation.

Utility Theory: Utility theory explores the concept of utility as a measure of satisfaction or happiness derived from consuming goods and services. It investigates how individuals allocate their limited resources to maximize utility, subject to budget constraints and preferences.

Consumer Choice Theory: Consumer choice theory analyzes how consumers make decisions about what goods and services to purchase based on their preferences, budget constraints, and the prices of goods in the market. It explores consumer behavior, demand curves, and the determinants of consumer choice.

Production Theory: Production theory examines the behavior of firms and producers in allocating resources to produce goods and services. It analyzes the relationship between inputs (such as labor and capital) and outputs, the concept of production functions, and the factors influencing production decisions.

Market Equilibrium: Market equilibrium theory explores the interaction of supply and demand in determining prices and quantities exchanged in markets. It examines how markets reach equilibrium through the adjustment of prices and quantities to balance supply and demand.

Game Theory: Game theory studies strategic interactions between rational decision-makers, such as individuals, firms, or governments, in competitive or cooperative settings. It analyzes the outcomes of strategic interactions, including the Nash equilibrium, cooperation, and competition.

Information Economics: Information economics investigates the role of information and uncertainty in economic decision-making. It examines how individuals gather, process, and act on information in markets, the impact of asymmetric information on market outcomes, and the role of signaling and screening mechanisms.

Behavioral Economics: Behavioral economics integrates insights from psychology and economics to study how cognitive biases, heuristics, and social factors influence economic behavior. It challenges the assumptions of rationality and explores deviations from standard economic models.

Welfare Economics: Welfare economics evaluates the efficiency and equity of resource allocation in economic systems. It assesses the welfare implications of market outcomes, including market failures, externalities, income distribution, and the role of government intervention.

These theories and approaches in the philosophy of microeconomics provide frameworks for understanding individual decision-making, market dynamics, and the allocation of resources in economic systems.

[halfcourtyeet]

This Week's News, 4/13/2025

WHY IS THIS IN MY DRAFTS?? 😱😱

Happy Homestuck day. Tweaking less this week.

You may be disappointed this week, but there's no real news. Music work is coming along, but really I've been sorting out my life stuff more than anything.

Little demo I made to try to demonstrate utility theory concepts. However, the distance calculation is bugged right now.

The Enemy's code for deciding who to attack is pretty cool though, if you care to check it out:

Basically takes each potential target calculates two normalized scores (between 0 and 1) based on two things:

How low, proportional to their max HP, is the target's current HP?

How far away are they, by tile, from the Enemy? (with a quick A* pathfind.

It then takes the geometric mean of these two numbers, and whichever target produced the highest number is the target the Enemy attacks. Pretty cool, right?

I am so surprised that there is exactly one video about this online. However, I have talked to Rez Graham, a former Sims 4 game AI engineer and big proponent of using Utility Theory for game AI. Unfortunately his fantastic and accessible talk on this subject is locked for now in the GDC vault, and I only got to see it with privileged access from another person. Maybe I should change that, either by reuploading or teaching...

But that's it from me this week, save some Fire Emblem. I was gonna tell you about my DOOM wad, wasn't I? Either next week, or not at all. Too much stuff going on with me right now for that.

I have been active in my communities, though

On some cool forums and stuff, yeah. It's neat.

Okay, see you next week.

[greenleaf4stuff]

I cannot get over the little detail of Adar actually releasing Elrond's hand in that scene. (We can see some of it at the bottom left corner of the 1st gif, his grip is already loosening after Elrond drops his weapon; see the 2nd gif for comparison.)

My interpretation is that he is so sure of his greater strength and advantage, and that Elrond doesn't have the ability to fight back/no more knives up his sleeve (so to speak), that he lets Elrond have full autonomy of both of his hands. Mind you, Adar hasn't even lifted Elrond up yet and Elrond could have still fought back multiple ways (using his legs to struggle etc) at this point.

And then Adar proceeds to lift him up, hold him up, choke him and throw him aside like it is nothing. One-handed. Showcasing his physical strength but also retaining the ability to defend himself should Elrond suddenly manage to fight back.

imo, this and his fight with Arondir really show what a unit he is in battle. And that he is aware of it.

[devicecontact]

text from A Short History of Nearly Everything

non pixelated:

[accirax]

this stuff might be on the wiki or whatever already, but in the case it's helpful for anyone i made a diagram of trial seating and a character color sheet!

[saintmelangell]

longlegs spoilers/vagueing people i dont know

no shade to this person but this is literally the point of the movie. the point of the entire story is that longlegs (whether it is the doll itself or what the doll represents, which is childhood trauma) makes lee not look at what's in front of her. she has no memory of seeing her mother assaulted by longlegs or of longlegs himself until something triggers her memories or the "block" (the doll) is removed and she is able to remember clearly. ON PURPOSE the children who have doppelgangers are unable to look at what's going in front of them (see also: the way ruby in the final scene seems simply unable to recognize the violence taking place around her).

yes, in the plotline of longlegs this is because of evil dolls, but more specifically this is fairly textbook trauma theory. extremely often children cope with experiencing or witnessing trauma by simply blocking it out or convincing themselves that x never happened. of course lee didn't look at her mother, because she was never allowed to look in the first place: either by the perpetrator of her trauma, or by what was very literally her own "brain." there's so many layers but the fact lee simply doesnt look is literally the point of the story.

[fromtheseventhhell]

High-key want Arya and Varys to cross paths again at some point, like I need Varys to know that he was spied on by a 9-year-old Arya and that his plans could've potentially been foiled by her

[marlenacantswim]

guy very into musical theatre who mistakingly thinks they're connecting with me over a shared interest: yeah, weber is foundational and all, but i've always felt more of a connection with what starkid's got going on, y'know?

me, who's only ever listened to tracks from the musical episode of Psych: uhhhhhhhhh... hello my name is shawn spencer? this is my partner, lil' wayne? the evidence is underwhelming? but my intuition is insane?

[40ouncesandamule]

additional link to the video: https://youtu.be/vJG698U2Mvo?si=xCWwFy-8QaDPb2hS

[tio-trile]

SO NOW HAVING WATCHED THE SEASON I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WERE EXCITED FOR US TO SEE THE KENJI + BEN FIGHT SCENE...... watching that completely destroyed me and i wont be recovering anytime soon😭😭

[biblically-accurate-dca]

daycare sign in the basement you will always be famous

[triangle-strategy-notes]

What do you think happens to Frederica long term after the Utility ending?

That's an awesome question! Thanks so much for the ask <3

My first instinct is that Frederica honestly would struggle to achieve much political change on her own. In the Utility ending's epilogue, we hear that she's got a few ardent followers, but that overall her situation isn't looking super good.

She's got the truth of the salt mines on her side, but Hyzante is actively working to suppress any information that might support Frederica's claim via actions like ordering Exharme to burn down the Aesfrosti Archives.

If nothing changes, Idore could potentially stay in power indefinitely—he alludes to powers of immortality in his golden route boss fight, and if he just takes on the role that the hierophant puppet currently occupies, he's already set up to "die" and then rule without showing his face.

HOWEVER. Here's how Frederica can still win!!!!!! (once again there's an essay under the cut. sorry)

The nice thing about the Utility ending is that there are a TON of characters who'd be at least marginally pissed with the Saintly Seven (and/or Roland in particular). These include:

The surviving Aesfrosti (including Avlora) who would likely resent Hyzante for their role in their home's destruction

Merchants and members of the Consortium who benefited from free trade

Any rebel factions from within Hyzante (similar to Plinius's group)

Anyone else who would sympathize personally with Frederica or the Roselle, such as Geela, Groma, Archibald, or Maxwell

The surviving Royalists who were exiled by Roland

The rest of the Saintly Seven themselves tbh. Exharme definitely intends to oust/kill Idore at some point, and Lyla and Kamsell I think would turn a blind eye to that after what happened with Tenebris getting arbitrarily zapped into oblivion. Roland and Serenoa seem on board with Exharme's intent to change the world as well, so I'd loosely count them in with any rebellion he starts up.

In any case, if Frederica can convince even just two or three of those groups to join her, she'll be at about the same strength as the Wolffort army was during a good portion of the war.

But the big caveat with this is that those alliances do depend on Frederica seeking out those connections and actively choosing to work with others and prioritize their goals alongside her own—for example, with the remaining Aesfrosti, they might want her to take Gustadolph's place and assume a leadership position, which would mean she has to balance that responsibility to Aesfrost's people alongside her desire to help the Roselle. Given how dedicated she is to the Roselle's cause, that might not be a sacrifice she's willing to make.

But if she does manage to put together a force, I think she'd have a pretty good shot at achieving something similar to the Morality ending! We know that the last hierophant's death provided Orlaea an opportunity to lead some of the Roselle to freedom, and Frederica will likely have a similar opportunity whenever Exharme inevitably takes his shot at Idore.

Depending on how that power struggle goes, Exharme might even be open to negotiation with Frederica and the Roselle. He's stated outright that he wants a peaceful world, and especially if the choice is between "admitting he just let Hyzante's entire force of slaves escape" and "striking a deal with Frederica to welcome the Roselle into Hyzantian society, thus painting himself as a benevolent savior (and the rightful successor to Idore who was clearly a heretic)," I could see him choosing the latter. Frederica and the Roselle might not accept that offer after everything Hyzante has done to them, but given that trying to find Centralia is a gamble, they might be tempted to stay and try to make it work.

Alternatively, a less flashy but still happy-ish end to it all is that some combination of Frederica, Serenoa, Roland and/or Exharme work together to gradually, systematically improve the lives of the Roselle. With Roland being the Minister of Salt, he should theoretically have control over the Source, and I assume that despite everything he'd still try to improve the Roselle's living conditions at the soonest opportunity. Over time, I think there's a pretty solid chance that they could enact reform to the point that the Roselle are about as "free" as any other Hyzantian might be, though it seems likely they'd still face some discrimination similar to the Liberty ending.

In a world where the Roselle do have the support of Exharme, Roland, and Serenoa, I could definitely see Frederica reclaiming her identity as Frederica Aesfrost and becoming a public religious/political leader for the Roselle. And if Exharme really does radically change things and brand Idore as a heretic, inviting Frederica or a different Rosellan to become one of the Saintly Seven would kinda make sense as a political gesture, especially since Serenoa and Roland were both brought in under similar circumstances. Again, it's not really clear if Frederica would accept a position like that after everything Hyzante has done, but she might be tempted if it would give her more leverage to help the liberated Roselle.

And you know, one thing I love about Frederica during Roland's ending is that, even if she doesn't achieve anything, I think it's great that the story ends on that note of "she keeps fighting anyways." She might not manage to get anyone to join her. She might not ever save the Roselle! But her character is such that she keeps pushing toward that goal anyways because it's the right thing to do, and that's very cool in and of itself :)

[the-woman-upstairs]

Definitely A Choice to have Dennis listen to two different love songs when he’s alone in his car. One, when he’s picking up Arnie for the first time (“Not Fade Away”) and the other when he drops him off at home for what will be the last time in the film (“Runaway”).

They’re both about an ardent, enduring love that appears to be one-sided; yearning for the object of their affection to accept that love and be with or return to them. Dennis starts the film confident in his relationship with Arnie, that the love is strong and won’t fade, but when Christine enters the picture, realizes that his love has run away from him, that it wasn’t enough for Arnie.

[tomlivingspace]

also which leafpool Yuri ship do u prefer (since there are 9374937) or are u not into leafpool yuri

i was really into mothpool when i was younger because. well bc its was obvious. but most leafpool ships seem very one-note. even mothpool just kind of bores me. but that's the case with most warriors ships tbh like very few of them are interesting in any capacity and if they are people generally tend to just portray them as like. happy couple in love. which is not what im about.

if i were to explore any gay leafpool ships, id have sorreltail be to leafpool what leafpool ends up being to mothwing. a good luck babe russian nesting doll if you will.

but i think what id really be interested in exploring is moth flight x leafpool :) everyones like toxic yuri this and toxic yuri that... well prove your allegiance then. ill wait.

[radioactive-yuri]

the magnus archives does not take into account the fact that you can catch a fear mark on youtube dot com

[jamlessjj]

And what if I did a Roman numeral analysis of the opening chord progression in Where The Streets Have No Name to show how from the second it begins The Joshua Tree album harmonically conveys the character of vast desert-like landscapes; the feelings of uncertainty and doubt that are sort of intrinsic to belonging in/moving through a place; the searching for home and/or faith in a contemporary word, all within just seven chords? What would happen then?