my friend and i have been discussing some ideas that he’s been coming up with while reading aristotle (nicomachean ethics), and i think we might have something pretty neat to work with.
one of his questions was something like "how can we determine the effect of someone on “capital H” Happiness/Good. so… we got to talking about how wealth, virtue, ir/rationality and fortuna (chance, luck) affect it. after some discussion i proposed an equation something like
(Virtue-Irrationality)+Fortuna=H
for this to work, there has to be some sort of value, 1-10, for everything. in this equation, virtue stands for virtue as well as rationality, taking for granted that virtuous activity is most often rational as well, whereas (I)rrationality detracts from one’s (V)irtue value, and chance adds to or reduces the value as a constant that is independent of virtue/irrationality.
however, this still did not involve wealth, which effects one’s impact. example: a very good man who is poor can’t have nearly the effect that a very bad and wealthy man can. so, because of this, it appears that wealth magnifies one’s virtue OR one’s irrationality, this is shown as
(V-I)W+F=H
later, it seemed that this was a bit off, and received a revision.
VW/(-I)=H
i think that it seems silly to use F at this point where the equation is still in it’s infancy and F is seen (so far) as a constant. however… it was suggested that no matter how good, not bad and wealthy a person is, if they have no contact with society, they can effect no real change, and so we decided that (C)ontact with society would be needed. unless he’s had some ideas about this since we last spoke earlier today, we’re kind of in a rut about what to do with this at this point.
i can think of a few potential holes in this theory, but i’d like to see what everyone else thinks. as always, any input is always appreciated.
edit: i forgot the last equation we’d figured out so far… VW=H, where V has a range of -10 through 10
Basic math of “good” judgment/reasoning.
/*
SBSV= Sensation based social virtue.
SBPV= Sensation based personal virtue.
A= Action.
M= Method [efficiency of action. Power/ability is part of this.].
T= Time [how long the results last].
PPL= Personal Pleasure.
PPA= Personal Pain.
PE= [Sensation based virtue calculation of] People effected.
*/
// Sensation based virtue:
{
SBSV = ((A)x(M)x(T)x(PPL) + (PE)) - ((A)x(M)x(T)x(PPA) + (PE));
SBPV = (A)x(M)x(T)x(PPL) - (A)x(M)x(T)x(PPA);
}
/*
This is what the calculation of virtue would be if it were a script [used in a programming language].
*/
“M” also contains understanding of health/balance.