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dfranke comments on On dollars, utility, and crack cocaine - Less Wrong
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Comments (97)
I think this post is going to contribute to semantic confusion; when most of us talk about utilons, I think we're talking about the output of a utility function.
I concur. I did a quick google for "utilons", and most of the hits I found were (1) from LW or OB, and (2) using "utilons" to mean exactly what Phil is saying it doesn't mean. I don't recall seeing "utilon" in (e.g.) philosophy or economics books with the meaning Phil prefers. Phil, where have you found "utilon" used to mean things like dollars?
I've heard "hedons" as units of pleasure ("dolors" for units of pain), although I suppose if we aren't being hedonists then it might be a misleading term.
You may be right. I re-wrote the post not to use the word "utilon". The definition of utilon is a tangential issue.
I agree; "utilons" are units of utility, though "utils" is more standard.
We should make a systematic effort to use standard terminology wherever possible on this site - we worry enough about being a cult without replacing standard terminology with our own.
I agree with the main point of the post, but I cannot recall having seen the word "utilons" used to refer to anything except either marginal utility or expected marginal utility, both of which are of course linear in expected marginal utility.