Yet, the marketized and commodified way we live today makes cost–benefit
thinking almost unavoidable. Diener et al. tentatively hint that societies could feel
very different if economic indicators were not constantly present, but instead
replaced with information on how many spent time with their family, did a good
turn for their neighbor, exercised or engaged in meditation and prayer (Diener et al.
2009: 40).
In Sect. 3.3 I will discuss the role of price signals as guiding indicators in more
detail. Here I want to conclude with a summary of what psychology, sociology and
neurosciences tell us about the genesis, power and changeability of mental path
dependencies. It shows that the methodological stunt of making Homo economicus
the representative agent for all of humanity is scientifically false. In the light of this
fact, merely containing criticism by tinkering around the edges is insufficient. The
sociologist Welzer ridicules the way that mainstream models have started to tinker
by, for example, varying exogenous preferences: some green values are brought in
but the main impetus of wanting more remains the constant hypothesis of the theory
from which everything is deduced. Would I now rather have two funky bikes
instead of one car? In this paradigm, people’s core motivations cannot change. Yet,
historical studies show they can. The concept of psychogenesis, for example,
encompasses changes in endogenous preferences (do I really want to have all this
stuff?). This is simply excluded from mainstream economic frameworks even
though sociology suggests no less than that “changes in social structure lead to the
emergence of new social forms and practices, and thus to psychologically different
people with different needs” (Welzer 2011: 15).
3.1.5 Summary: Human Need Perception and Well-Being
Depend on the Processes Behind Creating Wealth
The research I have presented above renders obsolete the mainstream concepts
summarized in Table 3.1 and used to understand human needs and their satisfaction. Human needs are not endless (although maybe the ‘wants’ created by
advertising are) and utility or happiness are much more than fleeting sensations of
joy and excitement experienced after consuming new things. After securing
material needs for subsistence, the most important factors for happiness and
well-being are not the absolute amount of income but income security. The other
important aspect is the match between income or available money and the costs of
having access to the need-satisfaction strategies one deems necessary for
well-being. This quantitative ratio depends on the context in which the person
happens to live and is usually corrected for by purchasing power estimates. These
do not capture qualitative differences between offers of similar services, like public
versus private health care or education. The bigger the qualitative gaps the less well
people feel if they cannot afford access to private services. Also, the more explicit
consumerist culture is advertised and declared to be normal, the more important
76
3 Why the Mainstream Economic Paradigm Cannot Inform …
thinking almost unavoidable. Diener et al. tentatively hint that societies could feel
very different if economic indicators were not constantly present, but instead
replaced with information on how many spent time with their family, did a good
turn for their neighbor, exercised or engaged in meditation and prayer (Diener et al.
2009: 40).
In Sect. 3.3 I will discuss the role of price signals as guiding indicators in more
detail. Here I want to conclude with a summary of what psychology, sociology and
neurosciences tell us about the genesis, power and changeability of mental path
dependencies. It shows that the methodological stunt of making Homo economicus
the representative agent for all of humanity is scientifically false. In the light of this
fact, merely containing criticism by tinkering around the edges is insufficient. The
sociologist Welzer ridicules the way that mainstream models have started to tinker
by, for example, varying exogenous preferences: some green values are brought in
but the main impetus of wanting more remains the constant hypothesis of the theory
from which everything is deduced. Would I now rather have two funky bikes
instead of one car? In this paradigm, people’s core motivations cannot change. Yet,
historical studies show they can. The concept of psychogenesis, for example,
encompasses changes in endogenous preferences (do I really want to have all this
stuff?). This is simply excluded from mainstream economic frameworks even
though sociology suggests no less than that “changes in social structure lead to the
emergence of new social forms and practices, and thus to psychologically different
people with different needs” (Welzer 2011: 15).
3.1.5 Summary: Human Need Perception and Well-Being
Depend on the Processes Behind Creating Wealth
The research I have presented above renders obsolete the mainstream concepts
summarized in Table 3.1 and used to understand human needs and their satisfaction. Human needs are not endless (although maybe the ‘wants’ created by
advertising are) and utility or happiness are much more than fleeting sensations of
joy and excitement experienced after consuming new things. After securing
material needs for subsistence, the most important factors for happiness and
well-being are not the absolute amount of income but income security. The other
important aspect is the match between income or available money and the costs of
having access to the need-satisfaction strategies one deems necessary for
well-being. This quantitative ratio depends on the context in which the person
happens to live and is usually corrected for by purchasing power estimates. These
do not capture qualitative differences between offers of similar services, like public
versus private health care or education. The bigger the qualitative gaps the less well
people feel if they cannot afford access to private services. Also, the more explicit
consumerist culture is advertised and declared to be normal, the more important
76
3 Why the Mainstream Economic Paradigm Cannot Inform …