> I think the question is applicable to more than just engineers. Our economy is a paperclip maximizer of sorts - in the sense that its maximization target is far removed from the target of building the best possible world that we can imagine building.
My impression was that the maximization target is the building of the best possible world that can be imagined _for the owners of capital, in proportion_.
A farm in any time period is built to maximize the success, convenience, and happiness of the humans who own and operate the farm, right? Not the happiness or convenience of the chickens or pigs. If making the livestock happier and better fed helps the farm's goals, it will be done, and if not, not.
This frame of reference helps explain a lot more about the world than imagining that anyone with any relevance actually cares about the world being good for most of the people in it. Most of us are just livestock, a means to an end for the proprietors.
My impression was that the maximization target is the building of the best possible world that can be imagined _for the owners of capital, in proportion_.
A farm in any time period is built to maximize the success, convenience, and happiness of the humans who own and operate the farm, right? Not the happiness or convenience of the chickens or pigs. If making the livestock happier and better fed helps the farm's goals, it will be done, and if not, not.
This frame of reference helps explain a lot more about the world than imagining that anyone with any relevance actually cares about the world being good for most of the people in it. Most of us are just livestock, a means to an end for the proprietors.