Monday, January 16, 2012
Opportunity Cost And Paradox Value of Phobias
Phobias are known worldwide as severe fears. Phobias range from more common fears such as fear of death or heights while also focusing on eccentric fears such as fear of clocks or laughter. But really, what could people be sacrificing when living with these absurd fears? When a person develops a phobia, for example telephonophobia which is fear of telephones, he or she is making a choice to give up a normally common aspect of life. This relates to economics because the person factors in an opportunity cost into his or her life. Should I use the telephone or email the person I want to communicate with? Telephones are the opportunity cost because they are the next best thing to the person with the fear of telephones. Also, this person places a paradox value on certain objects. Most people would love if I came up to them and give them a brand new phone of their choosing. However, since this person has a fear of telephones they would place a different value on them than everyone else. Do you have any phobias? What exactly are you giving up and placing value on while living with these fears?
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3 comments:
I thought you did a great job of tying in opportunity costs and paradox of value. I found it interesting you used the term “normal”. What is normal? Is your definition the same as mine? Do you think there is a paradox of value in terms of normalcy?
The paradox of value is very intriguing, and the way you presented it made it very clear and understandable! I think when marketers try to give away free things at like conferences, marathons or conventions in order to captivate consumers, they have to factor in the values of their target audience. Many people at a marathon would not be interested in taking coupons for a free taco bell meal, but instead maybe a Jamba Juice smoothy or something more healthy. Thats why theres a lot of research to be done on the wants and needs of the consumers, as in what kinds of things they value and in which ways they can real them in to buy their goods or services.
Normal is typically defined as conforming to a specific standard or “common type.” Therefore, in my opinion, normal would be defined as something consistently used or done in everyday life. When it comes to placing value on things, obviously everyone is going to have differing views on what is important to them. However, some aspects of life are just so common that I believe people are forced to consider fears of them, such as laughter previously mentioned above, to be abnormal. Nobody’s definition of normal will ever be the exact same due to a variety of differing perspectives on lifestyles, religions and so much more, but it will have a level of similarity. Many factors contribute to someone’s definition of normal, my post just tied in the stricter dictionary definition of the word. As for paradox value, I believe people will forever have differing views with or without a factor of normalcy. Paradox value all depends on the circumstances of the individual and their views on specific items and ideas. They could simply prefer a slurpee over ice cream because the slurpee is bright blue, normalcy has nothing to do with the paradox of value in that situation. I believe there is definitely a certain level of normalcy in our society but as for paradox value, the specific individual entirely controls it with their own thoughts, emotions and influences.
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