The Poverty of Human Utility

Efficiency is for things, not people - Stephen Covey

Human beings are not tools, but we treat ourselves as such. We have come to gauge self-worth in terms of what we do well and what we don't do well; what we can offer, and what we can't. This utilitarian view of ourselves and others ignores to acknowledge the true inherent "value" of human beings. What do I mean by inherent value? Appreciating someone just for being. I know, sounds alien right? This is a pity because we, as members of the same species, are the only ones capable of appreciating another human being's inherent value. Imagine a pair of scissors you buy at CVS. If they cut well, then the scissors are cool. If they don't cut well, or they're dull, then the scissors are not cool; in fact, throw them out. Here's a different example:

Do the tasks in your life leave little time for your family and friends? Are the requirements at work increasing everyday? Do you have time to talk with your co-workers, friends, and family? The Digital Age has brought convenience, but at the same time, our lives seem more complicated. Having a Social Support System can ease the stress and strain of everyday life. 

- taken from an ad for a health insurance company

Where can I buy this system? Does it come with instructions? What's the tech support number in case I have problems? The term "Social Support System" focuses on the utility of human relationships. Wondering about the utility of something is simply wondering "what is it good for?" or rather, "how can I use it?" In this case, the message transmitted to the reader is that the utility (or function) of people is to assist you in relieving stress and strain. It is problematic to think of human beings in this way however, and it's also... quite unhuman to do so. We haven't evolved the seemingly magical capacity for emotion, language, love, and human thought for no reason. Right? Well, the current societal lens through which we we view relationships may be hiding this magic from view. 

Some Examples

Facebook and other similar sites seem to add more fuel to the fire, facilitating our perception of friends - aka human beings - as units in a network seemingly designed to provide us with all the evaluative tools needed to measure our own self-worth. How many friends do you have? Or, how many happy birthday messages did you get on your birthday? 32, yeah? Well I got 42, sucka.

Go to any networking class. Networking classes are interesting because they shamelessly encourage techniques aimed at exploiting the utility of other people. If you see someone you like at a conference or other public event, networking professionals can show you how to "maneuver" yourself - through physical and psychological adjustments - to manipulate a person's perception of you. These lessons, the fact that they are accepted in society, and the fact that networking professionals even exist, are also problematic to the valuation of inherent human worth.

Consider the following terms and questions:

• "social support system," 
• "human resource management" 
• "human capital"
• "what have you done for me?" 
• "what do you have to offer?" 
• "why should I pay attention to you?" 
• etc.

Uttering one or more of these may be a fairly reliable indicator of a utilitarian perspective and their ubiquitous use in human relationships is further detrimental to the development of the best possible measures of human worth. How did this focus on "what can that person offer me" come about? Well, the "maximization of resources" tenet of industrialization and economics that runs unchecked and unchallenged in the professional world seems to have spilled over into the personal world. We have been taught to maximize everything, from tests at school, to grades, to our jobs, to our incomes, to our degrees, to our partners, to our children, etc. People are not resources however, nor can they be maximized without deep psychological consequences.

3 personal exploratory questions:

• Can I see how treating others in this way is utilitarian (focusing on their usefulness)?
• If so, is it good?
• How can we focus the mind on inherent value rather than on utility?
  

If you can't see this, then my suggestion for the first question is travel. Go away, beyond these borders. South America, Asia, Africa, wherever. Just go. Stay for an extended period of time - a couple of months or more. And reflect. We need to step outside of the system to even see it. Perhaps there are other ways, I'm not sure. But travel may be a good place to start. The rest of the answers seem to come on their own after that.

Thank you reader, simply for reading.