I think you are describing a personal "social welfare function." It has as arguments the things we value (each of which may lie along a scale with maximum and minimum values), and its parameters represent a model of how the world works.
In practice I think we argue more about the parameters than the values.
This is an attractive idea but I worry that many of the variables can’t really be quantified, so putting them on a mathematical curve would… be difficult. Granted, that's also basically why I was unsure of the analogy to algorithms. Happy to hear any thoughts on how it might be done!
Small nit-pick: computer algorithms are not really distinct from mathematical functions. They are both (potentially) black boxes that produce predictable outputs from definite inputs. Is this relevant to your point? Unless we are talking about AI, the programmers need to know how an algorithm should produce its result.
So my question should be, do we know this, or do we know a procedure that will definitely find “the answer”? Are we struggling to find the right algorithm, or struggling to agree on what the algorithm should produce?
Cool question. I suspect different people would need different algorithms. Bleeding Heart Libertarians (including PSLs) would likely struggle for a bit to determine what their algorithm should produce, then struggle to find the algorithm that gets that right. But others would have different algorithms they should struggle to get right for themselves. Randian libertarians and Mises Center libertarians would be unlikely to come to agreement with BHL/PSLs. All of those would be unlikely to come to agreement with Rawlsians, etc.
Any attempt to capture the whole political-ideological world as binaries or a compass is bound to appear procrustean from the viewpoints of people for whom those are not the important factors. But for people with a dominantly libertarian bias (or who are libertarian curious/confused) a political compass can usefully clarify matters: https://jclester.substack.com/p/the-political-compass-and-why-libertarianism
I think you are describing a personal "social welfare function." It has as arguments the things we value (each of which may lie along a scale with maximum and minimum values), and its parameters represent a model of how the world works.
In practice I think we argue more about the parameters than the values.
This is an attractive idea but I worry that many of the variables can’t really be quantified, so putting them on a mathematical curve would… be difficult. Granted, that's also basically why I was unsure of the analogy to algorithms. Happy to hear any thoughts on how it might be done!
Small nit-pick: computer algorithms are not really distinct from mathematical functions. They are both (potentially) black boxes that produce predictable outputs from definite inputs. Is this relevant to your point? Unless we are talking about AI, the programmers need to know how an algorithm should produce its result.
So my question should be, do we know this, or do we know a procedure that will definitely find “the answer”? Are we struggling to find the right algorithm, or struggling to agree on what the algorithm should produce?
Cool question. I suspect different people would need different algorithms. Bleeding Heart Libertarians (including PSLs) would likely struggle for a bit to determine what their algorithm should produce, then struggle to find the algorithm that gets that right. But others would have different algorithms they should struggle to get right for themselves. Randian libertarians and Mises Center libertarians would be unlikely to come to agreement with BHL/PSLs. All of those would be unlikely to come to agreement with Rawlsians, etc.
Any attempt to capture the whole political-ideological world as binaries or a compass is bound to appear procrustean from the viewpoints of people for whom those are not the important factors. But for people with a dominantly libertarian bias (or who are libertarian curious/confused) a political compass can usefully clarify matters: https://jclester.substack.com/p/the-political-compass-and-why-libertarianism
Yes!