Of course, we don't do things (like who we fall in love with) on the basis of the diminishing law of utility. Sometimes we can apply such reasoning when the decision at hand is not too emotionally freighted. Like, "Is it worth spending another $300 to fix the large and very old refrigerator in the church basement." One can argue that it's throwing good money after bad. Just go ahead and apply the repair cost to the new fridge.

But when one meets someone and is infatuated with them, like as not no calculation took place anywhere that you had a chance of observing it. One might end up in bed with them before rational thought can come into play.

What's significant about that is that it isn't only the amount of wage that is paid, but the status one has in the distribution of wages in a group. That sort of thing can affect decision making in an unrecognized way. It's a sort of "better to reign in hell than be a servant in heaven". — Bitter Crank

This is something I thought a lot about. Many people seek wealth not because of the material goods that it brings but rather the status and the opportunity for relationship formation. It could, of course, be argued that status provides benefit to one’s life. This is especially true for men as it may lead them to be more desirable to women. Of course, the law of diminishing utility applies to status and women as well. You only need so much status and you don’t need to be attractive to every woman. Although, I don’t think the benefits of status is worth the cost myself.

Of course, we don't do things (like who we fall in love with) on the basis of the diminishing law of utility. Sometimes we can apply such reasoning when the decision at hand is not too emotionally freighted. Like, "Is it worth spending another $300 to fix the large and very old refrigerator in the church basement." One can argue that it's throwing good money after bad. Just go ahead and apply the repair cost to the new fridge.

But when one meets someone and is infatuated with them, like as not no calculation took place anywhere that you had a chance of observing it. One might end up in bed with them before rational thought can come into play. — Bitter Crank

I agree that most people are only able to consider these laws in situations that are less emotionally influenced. But, perhaps it would be useful to also apply these laws to relationship matters. Of course, we might not be able to be as cool headed in those decisions but I find that being aware of this can actually help you be the exception to the rule. You can’t live a good life by being like everyone else. It doesn’t matter how rare or difficult it is for other people to do something, what matters is that you do what makes sense for you to do. This is also similar to my intuition regarding self-education. It doesn’t matter if other people can’t pull it off. What matters is whether you can. Of course, you also have to be aware of the possibility of failure and how this may impact your life. Luckily, there’s no harm if I am wrong about being able to self-educate or being able to apply the law of diminishing utility. I’m not taking a real risk by doing these things as far as I can tell. But, if I drop out of college or marry the wrong person, that’s a different story. So, I have more reason to doubt my abilities there.

University degrees are just acedemic qualifications, not a proof of education.

Get a associates or go to an online college and then if you are capable of it get a CDL and drive trucks the rest of your life.

Get a associates or go to an online college and then if you are capable of it get a CDL and drive trucks the rest of your life. — christian2017

I actually do have an associates but it didn’t turn out to be very useful for me. Luckily, I didn’t pay anything to get it.

College is really only good for teaching you how to teach yourself which is why i suggested an associates. The truck driving thing is a great job for people who are capable of doing it. In some cases IT companies will train people with an associates in how to write software. In some cases (assuming you don't have a criminal record) you can get IT certifications and get a decent job. Have you considered becoming an electrician?

Well, I actually got an associates degree in IT but I wasn’t able to find a job in my field within my area. I didn’t want to move away from my family and look for jobs in other areas. Plus, I started to doubt that I would enjoy working in the IT field. My stress tolerance isn’t very good and I’m very much against excessive spending and having children from a prudential standpoint so I don’t need a super high paycheck to get by. Plus, I still live with my mom and I should have enough money to buy a house without a mortgage within 3 years. My prudential strategy is basically save a bunch of money by living with my mom and then buy a house without a mortgage and then live a minimalist lifestyle and save a $100000 emergency fund and then I can maybe afford to only work a part time job. I haven’t thought about becoming an electrician but I definitely don’t want to be a truck driver. I’m a shitty driver lol

Better plan than most.

Just out of curiosity, do you fall on the autism spectrum?

Just out of curiosity, do you fall on the autism spectrum? — Noah Te Stroete

Nope, I’m just weird lol

Not that there is anything wrong with being autistic or weird. I was just curious.

Cool :cool: , I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being autistic or weird either lol

Cool :cool: , I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being autistic or weird either lol — TheHedoMinimalist

Yeah, being weird IS cool. I’m weird, though, so I’m biased. :wink: