Utility, in Affect Engineering, is an individual’s assessment of how useful an entity is toward the fulfillment of a particular purpose. The utility value of an entity (i.e., Emotional Units invested in an entity) is assessed on top of the value the entity is given for cognizance of its existence. In the models presented below, Utility is primarily calculated from Sufficiency and Uniqueness. Sentiment, or more specifically, a ranking in importance of the purpose in question, is proposed as a hypothetical and wildcard variable to assist in modeling arbitrary concepts such as the free will of the individual.
Sufficiency, Uniqueness, and Sentiment are calculated in a similar manner. Together, they make up the Utility Value of an entity, which is separate from but dependent on the Existential Value of the entity being present in order to be cognitively meaningful. Hence, the individual must have at some point acknowledged that an entity exists before the entity can be assessed as useful toward fulfilling a purpose. The influence of Sufficiency, Uniqueness, and Sentiment can be neutralized, if desired, by setting their values to one, should an individual wish to focus on some other relationship in the functions (later on).
SUFFICIENCY
Sufficiency asks, “Is it enough?” It is expressed as a fraction in Affect Engineering:
Where S refers to the “Number of Subsequent Entities Required,” an entity that is wholly sufficient for the fulfillment of a purpose would have an S value equal to zero, as
1 / (1 + 0) = 1
If an entity is only half sufficient for the fulfillment of a purpose, meaning another entity is required, then S would have a value of one, and the Sufficiency would become one-half, as
1 / (1 + 1) = 1/2
If two additional entities are required, then the original entity would have a Sufficiency of one-third (i.e., S would equal two).
1 / (1 + 2) = 1/3
UNIQUENESS
Uniqueness asks the question, “Is it the only one of its kind?” It is also expressed as a fraction in Affect Engineering:
Where A refers to the “Alternatives that Match the Original Entity” (or pairs of alternatives that can match the original entity on all levels), an entity that is wholly unique for the fulfillment of a purpose would have an A value equal to zero, as
1 / (1 + 0) = 1
An entity that is one of two capable of getting the job done would have a Uniqueness value of one-half for the fulfillment of a purpose, meaning it could be substituted. A would have a value of one.
1 / (1 + 1) = 1/2
An entity that is one of three capable of getting the job done would have a Uniqueness value of one-third (i.e., A would equal two).
1 / (1 + 2) = 1/3
SENTIMENT
Sentiment, in Affect Engineering, asks, “How important is the purpose in question relative to the purpose with the highest priority?” Like Sufficiency and Uniqueness, it is expressed as a fraction:
Where R refers to the “Absolute Rank of the Purpose” in question against the purpose with the utmost priority, the purpose with the top rank is considered the origin.
Figure 5.14, from Affect Engineering: A Unified Field Theory of Emotion, p. 55. Signal Strength refers to neural signal strength relative to that of the top ranked purpose. Unlike Sufficiency’s S and Uniqueness’s A, which are generally limited to zero or positive integers, Sentiment’s R may be zero or any positive, real number. Sentiment is modeled on a ratio scale, with the origin (R = 0) being the purpose or purposes with the utmost priority. An R value of zero signifies that the purpose in question has the same level of priority as the top ranked purpose.
Entities being valued for a purpose that have the utmost priority (i.e., R = zero) would have a Sentiment of one,
1 / (1 + 0) = 1
An entity that has an R value of one for its purpose would have a Sentiment signal strength that is one-half that of the highest ranked purpose.
1 / (1 + 1) = 1/2
An entity that has an R value of two for its purpose would have a Sentiment signal strength that is one-third that of the highest ranked purpose.
1 / (1 + 2) = 1/3
UTILITY AND EXISTENTIAL VALUE
As cognizance of an entity’s existence is a necessary condition for it to be cognitively meaningful, Existence is given the role of gatekeeper role in the function. The Utility variables of Sufficiency, Uniqueness, and Sentiment may either be coupled through multiplication (simplest form, the one used throughout Affect Engineering, and the one that will be used here, albeit with more presumptions) or the variables may be decoupled through addition (less neat, but fewer presumptions).
Multiplication:
y = Judged Value of an Entity = Existence × ( Sufficiency × Uniqueness × Sentiment + 1 )
The entity’s existential value is represented by the + 1, after Existence is distributed. Existence, being an all or nothing affair (i.e., 0 or + 1) can trump the Utility variables by reducing them to zero if the individual has no inkling that the entity exists. Although this setup slightly de-emphasizes an individual’s distortion of an entity’s value, and does so along the lines of logic, emotions tend to exaggerate or trivialize events in everyday life, which makes this model slightly less desirable in terms of accurately modeling affect and emotions, but ideal for explaining the workings of the functions themselves succinctly.
Addition (alternative)
y = Judged Value of an Entity = Existence × ( Sufficiency + Uniqueness + Sentiment + 1 )
Existence still acts as a gatekeeper in this setup, and there are fewer presumptions about how an individual might initially organize valuations, thus more distortion is possible at the onset making it slightly more true to life. While no two brains are wired exactly the same on account of learning, environment, and genes, general similarities in how concepts are organized can easily by formulated. For instance, it might be the case that an individual was taught to weigh Sufficiency more heavily than Uniqueness, or vice-versa. This can be represented by additional coefficients next to the Utility variables (Sufficiency, Uniqueness, or Sentiment) which is not possible in the first form of the equation described using Multiplication.