

Optimization and the Standard Deal - lorendavie
http://antipatter.com/2011/08/optimization-the-standard-deal/

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nkurz

      1) Institutions optimize to capture value for themselves.
      2) Therefore, any “standard deal” offered by such an
         institution has been optimized towards their benefit,
         and away from yours.
    

I think there are some good insights in this article, but I don't think that 2
follows from 1. Yes, the institution prefers its own needs, but it's not
necessarily true that these needs are opposite of one's own. A business
benefits from having satisfied workers, the workers benefit if the business
continues to operate, etc.

I like the restatement at the bottom even worse: _The problem with the
Standard Deal is that it’s optimized to take value away from you._

There is a difference between optimizing for one thing and optimizing against
another. It doesn't have to be a zero sum game between the owners and the
workers. Optimizing for the institution does not imply trying to minimize
benefit for the employee. There are win-win situations, especially if one is
willing to count the consumer and the environment as external.

