No. 9 · Decisions · General Thinking
Utilitarianism
Judge an action by its consequences for everyone it touches.
In the Almanac
“Bentham’s felicific calculus”, 1789 · “Mercedes-Benz”, 2016
Both stories in full, three ways to use it and where it misleads.
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Questions
What is Utilitarianism?
Utilitarianism judges actions by their consequences. The right choice is the one that produces the greatest overall happiness, or the least suffering, for everyone affected, rather than following fixed rules.
How do you use Utilitarianism?
Use it when decisions touch many people: family plans, charitable giving, workplace trade-offs. Count everyone, not just yourself. But add guardrails. Happiness is hard to measure, predictions can be wrong, and adding up benefits can hide serious harm to a few. Pair it with fairness and honesty.
When does Utilitarianism matter?
Utilitarianism is one of the 35 mental models for decisions, the situations where you ask: Which way should I go? Within that, it belongs to “Weighing the options”, alongside A/B Testing, Back-of-the-Envelope Calculation and Cost-Benefit Analysis.
What is an example of Utilitarianism?
Two stories show it at work: Bentham’s felicific calculus (1789) and Mercedes-Benz (2016). Both are told in full in The Mental Models Daily Almanac, which has two stories for each of its 365 models.
Which mental models are related to Utilitarianism?
Veil of Ignorance, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Distributive Justice vs Procedural Justice. Utilitarianism itself comes from general thinking.