And Then There Was Less Than Nothing: Negative Utility
Is there something other than the “twice born, “the once born” and those who simply view our wonderful world with appreciation and sometime a sense of Awe. Is there a “negative birth”? Is there the “dark and disowned side” that Brugh Joy (1990, p. 160) identifies as the other side of the “good and acceptable”. At times, do we not just view the void with fear and awe, but actually drop into the void. Is this what it feels like or even means to be “depressed.” Is drug-abuse and other forms of self-destruction the frequent response to this “negative birth.”
While it is tempting to dwell on this dismal, hell-like condition of “negative-birth,” it is also important that we consider a less existential side of the negative that is found in all aspects of our life. Specially, I am referring to something called “negative utility.” This term is used to identify something that is less than nothing. We find negative utility in particular where something is not only of no value but also costs us something. For instance, we pay more for asparagus when the ends have been cut off than when purchasing asparagus with the full stalk intact. In essence, we are paying extra for removal of the asparagus ends. These ends have “negative utility.’ We have to pay to get them removed.
One can find “negative utility” in many other domains of our life. Our grass has negative utility in that, like the asparagus, we pay to have the grass removed (cut). Similarly, we discover that we often pay to be quiet (meditation) and shell out many dollars to remove the fat that has accumulated on our body. The fat has negative utility for many of us, even though it was initially intended for storage of energy when we confronted lean nutritional times while living in an unstable environment. And the grass has negative utility for us in contemporary times even though grass was meant to grow tall so that it could provide nutrition and hold water to benefit the interdependent natural environment in which it exists.
Psychological Loss and Promises Not Fulfilled
While Negative Utility is usually applied to economic matters of financial cost, I propose that this important concept can also be viewed and applied from a psychological rather than economic perspective. We find psychological loss in many sectors of our society that are intended to provide us with gains. We expect to learn in the educational sector but find ourselves learning little—while paying quite a bit to support the educational enterprise. Similarly, we expect to receive services that foster health and wellness in our healthcare system and pay an abundant amount to receive these services; yet the outcome is often one of illness produced within the context of dysfunctional healthcare services.
In both instances, we find ourselves paying for an outcome that doesn’t exist. We are paying for asparagus stems that we don’t want – and educational services, along with healthcare services that waste our time and fail to deliver what they promise. The postsecondary education and healthcare we receive is very costly, yet it does little to alleviate the problems of ignorance and illness that pervade American society.
More generally, there is the creation of negative utility in any sector where a promise can’t be delivered. We regret engaging in something that doesn’t work. We vividly are aware of the losses and costs associated with some service that ends up being “worthless.” When I was consulting with many kinds of organizations during the 1980s and 1990s, I found that many were “bullet proof” regarding the introduction of new ideas and innovative projects. They had “tried something new” during the “innovative 1970s” and it had failed. So, “there is no need to make the same mistake again. We’ll stay with what we know has worked.” The recalcitrant in our society are in charge (Rogers, 1962).
