NancyLebovitz comments on Checklist of Rationality Habits - Less Wrong

117 Post author: AnnaSalamon 07 November 2012 09:19PM

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Comment author: JoshuaFox 07 November 2012 08:15:25AM *  10 points [-]

he tried a reframe to avoid the status quo bias: If he was living in Silicon Valley already, would he accept a $70K pay cut to move to Santa Barbara with his college friends? (Answer: No.))

[Edit] But his utility function would predictably change under those circumstances.

I know that I have a status quo bias, hedonic treadmill, and strongly decreasing marginal utility of money (particularly when progressive taxation is factored in).

If I made 2/3 of what I do now, I'd be pretty much as happy as I am now, and want more money; if I made 3/2 of what I do now (roughly the factor described in the OP), I'd also be pretty much as happy as I am now, and want more money.

The logical conclusion is that we should lower the weight of salary increases in decisions, the opposite of the conclusion proposed here.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 08 November 2012 03:28:26AM 2 points [-]

Shouldn't we include the costs of moving? Even if the social costs are held as negligible (they probably shouldn't be), there's the time spent and the monetary costs of moving.