economic proof that at some point it is desirable to die

[thewake]

pretty self explanatory as long as you understand marginal analysis:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marginal-analysis.asp

[Faust]

not all men.

[Cain]

This diagram doesn't even make sense according to economic theory.  And that's quite an accomplishment.

[thewake]

This diagram doesn't even make sense according to economic theory.  And that's quite an accomplishment.

how so?
declining marginal benefits
increasing marginal costs
--holding all other things constant

makes perfect sense. looks like a standard graph of marginal benefits and marginal costs

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Maybe you might want to define and/or measure literally anything before you slap lines on a graph.

[thewake]

Let me be more explicit, which may give all of you a lesson in microeconomics and marginal theory:

The "good" the hypothetical individual here is consuming are units, or rather moments, of life. so the x-axis is time lived. Moving further to the right indicates that the person is living longer, and therefore consuming more and more units of life, time on earth, etc.

The y axis is utility (aka benefit). one can't actually measure utility in and of itself, so in most cases the utility is measured in dollars by assuming that the highest amount someone is willing to pay for something is a dollar measure of the utility one derives from it. In this case, because we can't really measure the value of a unit of life in dollars given our current means of measuring things, we have to just assume that there is a level of utility that exists and we could measure it if we had the ability to (and do we not all feel how much value we derive from consuming a certain product or doing a certain thing? are we not able to discern our own utility from consuming something? so, differing levels of utility do exist)

Let me now define MARGINAL utility as: "The additional satisfaction a consumer gains from consuming one more unit of a good or service" (thanks, Investopedia)

for normal goods, they obey the law of diminishing marginal utility (link to an explanation). So, the curve labeled "marginal benefit of living one more moment" indicates that the additional utility of living another moment of life (aka consuming another unit of this good we're analyzing) declines with each unit consumed. Of course it may not be shaped like a straight line for anybody, but we're assuming that generally, over time, it trends downward. So a straight line is good enough to illustrate my point.

The curve labeled "marginal cost of living one more moment" assumes that the cost (in utility) of living one more moment of life, as we move rightward along the x-axis, goes up for each unit of life consumer, moment of life lived, however you'd like to say. This seems like a decent assumption to make. As we get older, life tends to suck more for most people and it's costlier to keep oneself alive. Organs deteriorate, as well as the mind. Even if the costs of living one more moment of life were constant throughout life (i.e. the marginal cost curve were horizontal) the graph would still illustrate my point:

Which is that, at time T* on the graph, the marginal cost of living one more moment of life equals the marginal benefits (at a utility level of U*). So, following this logic, continuing to live another moment past this will in fact cost more in terms of utility to a person than they get out of it (in other words, it will be "more trouble than it's worth").

I was really stoned when I came up with this idea.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Let me be more explicit, which may give all of you a lesson in microeconomics and marginal theory

This is gonna be good, I can tell.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I was really stoned when I came up with this idea.

You could have led with this and saved us all a lot of time.

[Eater of Clowns]

Let me be more explicit, which may give all of you a lesson in microeconomics and marginal theory

This is gonna be good, I can tell.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Let me be more explicit, which may give all of you a lesson in microeconomics and marginal theory:

This is going to end really well.  I can sense it.   

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Let me be more explicit, which may give all of you a lesson in microeconomics and marginal theory

This is gonna be good, I can tell.

I am actually squeeing.  Like OUT LOUD.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

So, this guy graphed postmodernism.  I fucking hate postmodernists.  Modernists say there is a solution to everything.  Postmodernists say everything is fucked and you can't fix it.  So if you're sick of the miseryguts doom & gloom bullshit, punch a postmodernist.

Or maybe he graphed what he assumes middle age is like.  I'm middle aged, and I'm fucking awesome.  I am better off, and a better¹ person than I was at 20.

But he's going to give us a lesson in macroeconomics.  Someone give him the clown shoes.



¹  Of course, I was a cunt to begin with, so...

[thewake]

So, this guy graphed postmodernism.  I fucking hate postmodernists.  Modernists say there is a solution to everything.  Postmodernists say everything is fucked and you can't fix it.  So if you're sick of the miseryguts doom & gloom bullshit, punch a postmodernist.

I'm an American not any of your commie bullshit.

Or maybe he graphed what he assumes middle age is like.  I'm middle aged, and I'm fucking awesome.  I am better off, and a better¹ person than I was at 20.

I'm a worse person than I was at 20. However, I like being worse.

I'm 9000 years old.

But he's going to give us a lesson in macroeconomics.  Someone give him the clown shoes.

Nah, macro is pretty fucked. Go read a book on that one.

[Rembo]

How can the cost of living another moment (barring shit that makes you ask for euthanasia) EVER outweigh the benefit, to ME?
I might outlive my usefulness to YOU, or the Machine, but that's notnthe same. Is it?

I wanna LIVE!

I find that trying to put an economic value on life hardly ever leads to 'good things'...

[The Good Reverend Roger]

So, this guy graphed postmodernism.  I fucking hate postmodernists.  Modernists say there is a solution to everything.  Postmodernists say everything is fucked and you can't fix it.  So if you're sick of the miseryguts doom & gloom bullshit, punch a postmodernist.

I'm an American not any of your commie bullshit.

Or maybe he graphed what he assumes middle age is like.  I'm middle aged, and I'm fucking awesome.  I am better off, and a better¹ person than I was at 20.

I'm a worse person than I was at 20. However, I like being worse.

I'm 9000 years old.

But he's going to give us a lesson in macroeconomics.  Someone give him the clown shoes.

Nah, macro is pretty fucked. Go read a book on that one.