Thursday, May 14, 2009

apples and oranges

I was thinking today, it's a common response to say ah you can't compare those, it's like comparing apples and oranges.  That implies that what we can compare are just things of the same kind; apples with apples, oranges with oranges.  But even when we're comparing apples to apples, what if we run into different kinds of differences?  Such as, this apple is nice and big, but this apple is much sweeter.  Here again we're comparing two different kinds of things, size with taste; and aren't we again caught comparing apples and oranges?

What we can do is say well, this apple is big, but this apple is even BIGGER!  This orange is sweet, but this one is even more sweet!  What we're doing, essentially, is looking for Pareto optimality.  I'd take the time to explain Pareto efficiency right now, but I'm lazy + need to study.

The point is that we DO compare apples and oranges.  How else do we decide what car, or laptop to buy?  Very rarely is any product superior to another in every single way, and we need to decide which features or qualities are more important to us.  Learning how to compare and weigh different kinds of qualities with each other seems to be key in making value judgments.

4 comments:

Wesley said...

Hmmm... I think that "comparing apples to oranges" doesn't exclude comparing two different types of qualities of the same object. I.e. comparing a Mac to PC is not comparing apples to oranges.

BTW, you should be studying. :)

Joseph said...

in normal speech we're allowed to do so, but my point is why? comparing different qualities of the same kind of object is still comparing apples and oranges... for example, the aesthetic appeal of a mac vs. the inexpensiveness of a pc.

anyway. yes.

Dustin Lang said...

I love you

Unknown said...

When comparing products, it is true many have similar functions (ie cameras take picture, fridges keep things cold). So how do we decide what to buy. Price is definitely a factor, so I am surprised when people buy more expensive products that do basically the same things the less expensive products do. It is all about advertising creating "brand loyalty."

Anyways, I like sweet oranges.