Psychohistorian comments on Utilons vs. Hedons - Less Wrong
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Comments (112)
Yeah, I'm pretty sure my usage is entirely consistent with the wiki usage, if not basically identical.
Interesting, I'd assumed your definitions of utilon were subtly different, but perhaps I was reading too much into your wording.
The wiki definition focuses on preference: utilons are the output of a set of vNM-consistent preferences over gambles.
Your definition focuses on "values": utilons are a measure of the extent to which a given world history measures up according to your values.
These are not necessarily inconsistent, but I'd assumed (perhaps wrongly) that they differed in two respects.
I've started calling what-I-thought-you-meant "valutilons", to avoid confusion between that concept and the definition of utilons that seems more common here (and which is reflected in the wiki). We'll see how that goes.
Wiki says: hedons are "Utilons generated by fulfilling base desires".
Article says: hedons are "experiential utility units". Seems different to me.