The paradox of value - Akshita Agarwal

Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

Imagine you're on a game show, and you can choose between two prizes:

Zamislite da ste učesnik u kvizu i možete da odaberete između dve nagrade,

a diamond

dijamanta

or a bottle of water.

i flaše vode.

It's an easy choice.

To je lak izbor.

The diamonds are clearly more valuable.

Dijamanti su očigledno vredniji.

Sada zamislite da opet imate isti izbor,

Now imagine being given the same choice again,

only this time, you're not on a game show,

ali ovog puta niste u kvizu

but dehydrated in the desert after wandering for days.

već dehidrirani u pustinji nakon više dana lutanja.

Do you choose differently?

Da li biste drugačije odabrali?

Why? Aren't diamonds still more valuable?

Zašto? Zar dijamanti nisu i dalje vredniji?

This is the paradox of value,

Ovo je paradoks vrednosti

famously described by pioneering economist Adam Smith.

kome je čuveni opis dao pionir ekonomije, Adam Smit.

And what it tells us is that defining value is not as simple as it seems.

On nam govori da definisanje vrednosti nije tako jednostavno kao što se čini.

On the game show, you were thinking about each item's exchange value,

U kvizu ste razmišljali o razmenskoj vrednosti svakog predmeta,

what you could obtain for them at a later time,

šta biste kasnije mogli da dobijete za njih,

but in an emergency, like the desert scenario,

ali prilikom hitnog slučaja kao što je scenario sa pustinjom,

what matters far more is their use value,

ono što je znatno važnije je njihova upotrebna vrednost,

how helpful they are in your current situation.

koliko su vam korisni u vašoj trenutnoj situaciji.

A pošto možemo da odaberemo samo jednu od opcija,

And because we only get to choose one of the options,

we also have to consider its opportunity cost,

takođe moramo da uzmemo u obzir njen oportunitetni trošak,

or what we lose by giving up the other choice.

ili šta gubimo odustajući od drugog izbora.

After all, it doesn't matter how much you could get from selling the diamond

Na kraju krajeva, nije bitno koliko možete da zaradite od prodaje dijamanta

if you never make it out of the desert.

ako se nikada ne izbavite iz pustinje.

Most modern economists deal with the paradox of value

Većina savremenih ekonomista se bavi paradoksom vrednosti

by attempting to unify these considerations

pokušavajući da ujedine ova razmatranja

u okviru koncepta korisnosti,

under the concept of utility,

koliko dobro nešto zadovoljava želje ili potrebe neke osobe.

how well something satisfies a person's wants or needs.

Utility can apply to anything from the basic need for food

Korisnost se može primeniti na bilo šta, od osnovne potrebe za hranom

to the pleasure of hearing a favorite song,

do zadovoljstva kada čujemo omiljenu pesmu,

and will naturally vary for different people and circumstances.

a prirodno će se razlikovati kod različitih ljudi i okolnosti.

Tržišna ekonomija nam pruža lak način da pratimo korisnost.

A market economy provides us with an easy way to track utility.

Put simply, the utility something has to you

Jednostavno rečeno, korisnost koju nešto ima za vas

is reflected by how much you'd be willing to pay for it.

ogleda se u tome koliko biste bili spremni da platite za to.

Now, imagine yourself back in the desert,

Sada ponovo zamislite sebe u pustinji,

only this time, you get offered a new diamond or a fresh bottle of water

samo ćete ovoga puta dobiti ponudu između novog dijamanta ili flaše vode

svakih pet minuta.

every five minutes.

Ako ste kao i većina ljudi, odabraćete prvo dovoljno vode da vam potraje usput,

If you're like most people, you'll first choose enough water to last the trip,

and then as many diamonds as you can carry.

a zatim koliko god dijamanata možete da ponesete.

This is because of something called marginal utility,

To je zbog nečeg što se zove marginalna korisnost,

and it means that when you choose between diamonds and water,

a to znači da, kada birate između dijamanata i vode,

you compare utility obtained from every additional bottle of water

upoređujete korisnost koju dobijate od svake dodatne flaše vode

to every additional diamond.

sa svakim dodatnim dijamantom.

And you do this each time an offer is made.

To činite svaki put kada dobijete ponudu.

The first bottle of water is worth more to you than any amount of diamonds,

Prva flaša vode vam je vrednija od bilo koje količine dijamanata,

but eventually, you have all the water you need.

ali vremenom ćete imati svu vodu koja vam je potrebna.

Posle nekog vremena, svaka dodatna flaša postaje teret.

After a while, every additional bottle becomes a burden.

That's when you begin to choose diamonds over water.

Tada počinjete da birate dijamante umesto vode.

Nisu u pitanju samo nužne stvari kao što je voda.

And it's not just necessities like water.

When it comes to most things, the more of it you acquire,

Kod većine stvari, što više ih stičete,

the less useful or enjoyable every additional bit becomes.

svaka dodatna postaje manje korisna ili prijatna.

This is the law of diminishing marginal utility.

To je zakon opadanja marginalne korisnosti.

You might gladly buy two or three helpings of your favorite food,

Možda biste rado kupili dve ili tri porcije svoje omiljene hrane,

but the fourth would make you nauseated,

ali bi vam od četvrte postalo muka,

and the hundredth would spoil before you could even get to it.

a stota bi se pokvarila pre nego što biste stigli do nje.

Or you could pay to see the same movie over and over until you got bored of it

Ili biste mogli da platite da iznova gledate isti film

dok vam ne dosadi ili dok ne potrošite sav svoj novac.

or spent all of your money.

Either way, you'd eventually reach a point

U svakom slučaju, na kraju biste stigli do tačke

where the marginal utility for buying another movie ticket became zero.

na kojoj bi marginalna korisnost kupovanja još jedne bioskopske karte postala nula.

Utility applies not just to buying things, but to all our decisions.

Korisnost se odnosi ne samo na kupovanje stvari,

već na sve naše odluke.

And the intuitive way to maximize it and avoid diminishing returns

Intuitivni način da se ona uveća i da se izbegnu opadajući prinosi

is to vary the way we spend our time and resources.

je da menjamo način na koji trošimo vreme i sredstva.

After our basic needs are met,

Nakon što su zadovoljene naše osnovne potrebe,

we'd theoretically decide to invest in choices

teoretski bismo rešili da ulažemo u odabire

only to the point they're useful or enjoyable.

samo do one tačke u kojoj su korisni ili prijatni.

Of course, how effectively any of us manage to maximize utility in real life

Naravno, koliko efikasno bilo ko od nas uspeva da maksimalno uveća korisnost

is another matter.

u stvarnom životu je druga stvar.

But it helps to remember that the ultimate source of value comes from us,

Međutim, to pomaže da upamtimo da konačni izvor vrednosti

proističe iz nas,

the needs we share,

potreba koje delimo,

the things we enjoy,

stvari u kojima uživamo

i odluka koje donosimo.

and the choices we make.