lottery
should people maximize their money? oddly the answer is no. people should maximize their utility for money. i explain. let's pretend you win a house sized chunk of money in the lottery. say $250k. now the lottery people offer you a deal. take the $250k or take door number two which is a 1% chance at $25 million (and a 99% chance of $0). the lottery people don't care. in the long run they pay out the same number of dollars. if the best play is to maximize your money you don't care either. but only a complete gamboholic would take door number two. why? in short because your utility for $25m is more than your utility for $250k. but not 100 times more. which is what it would have to be in order for door number two to be a square deal.