Personal Objective Functions

Monday, August 14th, 2023

For blockchains, I like the concept of an objective function to determine incentive mechanisms. (Demand Side Token Design) and Protocol Design to Incentivize Demand).

Like much anything else, if I don't define my own with intention, I will adopt the programming from others.

An objective function should be designed such that I desire to maximize its value.

Unlike a value system, one just asks whether one still believes in it, but it may not come out in real life. Like it was with the co-founder who said he would go through a specific process for conflict resolution, but when a conflict came forward, he dumped it.

Values don't drive introspection/inspection or motivation.

This is harder to come up with when one considers that the function must a) have a set of inputs (which could have their own functions if we want to be fancy); b) should be controllable.

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those pieces that will evolve over time.

So here is the very bad first draft:

I want to maximize my connectedness with the world around me. This is measured by the number of people whom I have a high level of confidence they would attend my funeral if given notice of my death.

What I like I don't like about this function:

• It is entirely up to me how I measure this, but it is measurable
• It's not an objective measure, it's a guess
• It's good directionally in defining what I mean by connectedness
• But then, I'm not sure the notion of "connectedness" is entirely what I am going for

What are the inputs that are controllable for me?

• Empathy: how much empathy have I delivered (what is the unit? is there decay-rates?)
• Value: how much value have I delivered (what does that mean?)
• What are the number of people touched (what does it mean to 'touch')?

Does this sum or weighting need to be considered to figure out how "connected" I am?

And does connection describe some of the other things I would like to experience or see in the world, such as:

• serendipity -- or "luck" for things that are random (but random and positive?)
• experience -- what does this mean?
• freedom -- is this a constraint?

Why come up with this?

Because the objective function is something I should be looking to optimize, to be constantly moving the needle on, and ideally is something I can control.

External goals, even if they are treated as functions, may not be impacted by my effort. I suppose I could focus on things like money but I have actually very little control over it, although some people would disagree because they definitely have managed to earn alot more than I.

What if the unit were units of time feeling "joyful" or "blissful?"

Would the inputs be:

• Time with people doing x, y, z?
• Meditation and if so, how long and what kind?
• Exercise
• Writing?

On the one hand, this feels very "robotic" by trying to break things down into their primitives and come up with measurements.

But on the other hand, it strips away all the other distractions.

I'd rather by maniacally focused on the right inputs for the truly desired outputs, than to be scatted on both.

I think coming up with the objective function for my life also helps with decision making and prioritization.

I suppose it's like the Regret Minimization Framework, but that seems to work for specific frameworks.

i'm trying to come up with something that just sets the direction everyday and helps me to fine tune and optimize against the right function.

Will serving this function hurt other functions, like making money?

I don't know. I don't believe it's a direct proxy, meaning, the more connectedness doesn't lead to financial returns in anyway.

But if there a way it did as a mechanism or a mechanism, then why not? That would be good and sustainable.