Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics
No 829: Why known unknowns may be better than knowns, and how that matters for the evolution of happiness
Johan Stennek ()
Additional contact information
Johan Stennek: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Abstract: As humans have a limited range of feelings and limited perception, we can’t rank all possible actions in order of preference. However, we can use this inability to rank some actions, to infer rankings of other actions. Surprisingly, having less precise sensory information improves our ability to draw such inferences. Therefore, if nature selected a “Reasoning Man” with perfect inferential abilities, this person would have muted feelings and blurred perception. Behavior would nevertheless maximize happiness and evolutionary fitness, and not be merely satisficing. These results might help explain why the human sensory system has its well-documented limitations.
Keywords: Indirect evolutionary approach; utility function
Language: English
10 pages, First version: October 2022. Revised: September 20, 2024. Earlier revisions: January 2024.
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