Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

At 01:59 PM 3/1/2007, Michael Poole wrote: You did not specify a method for the runoff election. There are two candidates in the result set I specified; it might itself be the runoff. If the method for the runoff cannot be Range Voting, it is inappropriate to claim that Range satisfies the

Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

At 05:28 PM 2/28/2007, Michael Poole wrote: I suggest you re-read what I wrote. This rambling has nothing to do with what I wrote. I'm glad. Which is not at all an incentive to reread what Mr. Poole wrote I did not intend what I wrote to be a commentary on his writing, but simply to be

Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

Abd ul-Rahman Lomax writes: At 05:28 PM 2/28/2007, Michael Poole wrote: I suggest you re-read what I wrote. This rambling has nothing to do with what I wrote. I'm glad. Which is not at all an incentive to reread what Mr. Poole wrote I did not intend what I wrote to be a commentary on

Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

Abd ul-Rahman Lomax writes: How to define individual utility in election methods is not necessarily a problem: the voter defines it. They system provides a means to express such utilities. Aggregating utilities, however, is obviously not such a simple thing. But we should not let this

Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

At 07:57 AM 2/28/2007, Michael Poole wrote: Aggregating utilities, however, is obviously not such a simple thing. But we should not let this distract us from the fact that utility analysis is really the *only* approach to judging how well election methods perform, it is not like we have

Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

Abd ul-Rahman Lomax writes: At 07:57 AM 2/28/2007, Michael Poole wrote: Aggregating utilities, however, is obviously not such a simple thing. But we should not let this distract us from the fact that utility analysis is really the *only* approach to judging how well election methods

Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

I commend Jobst for his essay [ http://lists.electorama.com/htdig.cgi/election-methods-electorama.com/2007-February/019584.html ] on utilities. It helps clarify some issues about utilities and the often abused notion of social utilities. Utility functions are just a way of representing

Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

How to define individual utility in election methods is not necessarily a problem: the voter defines it. They system provides a means to express such utilities. Aggregating utilities, however, is obviously not such a simple thing. But we should not let this distract us from the fact that

Re: [EM] When and how can we speak of individual utility and social utility?

Martin Bailey suggested maximise the probability of minimising harm as the method to combine utility functions into a single social decision. For something like this to work, there would need to be a reference point as the question then becomes, minimise harm relative to what?. Anyway,