[boredguy8]

"The kids in the post add value by building more complex structures out of the raw materials, no?"

The problem with using that as a refutation is that in the market of the classroom, the lego houses are "durable capital goods". The 'right' way for the teachers to shake up the classroom is to highlight the value of other toy markets. For instance: you can create far more diverse objects with play-doh than you can with legos - in some instances, that might make play-doh more valuable.

Helping the kids understand that makes a conversation like, "I'll trade you 1/3 of my green play-doh for your lego car," possible. It also would not only -empower- the other students, it would begin teaching the kids valuable lessons in determining value and how to negotiate. Skills and insights that are far more valuable than learning how to say, "But you should give x to me because you have more."

[mightybyte]

Excellent point. This is an excellent lead-in to teach kids that the value they place on things is not intrinsic. Once they start thinking this way, they will discover that by changing the value they assign to things, they can manipulate their amount of satisfaction and even the amount of power they possess.

Ironically, this comes full-circle to the article's mention of stepping outside rules that are bad. The kids can now say, "I don't have to assign more value to green legos just because your game assigns more points to them." Some things still do have a certain degree of intrinsic value, so this won't always work. But they have been empowered to the extent allowed by the value assignments of which that they have control.

BTW, startup founders use this type of understanding to prioritize ideas that have a better chance of success.

[boredguy8]

"BTW, startup founders use this type of understanding to prioritize ideas that have a better chance of success."

Can you elaborate what you mean? It sounds intriguing, but I don't fully understand it.

[mightybyte]

From my previous paragraph:

'The kids can now say, "I don't have to assign more value to green legos just because your game assigns more points to them." Some things still do have a certain degree of intrinsic value, so this won't always work. But they have been empowered to the extent allowed by the value assignments of which that they have control.'

By understanding when value is more subjective versus intrinsic, founders can choose to work on something where the value is more intrinsic. And if there's nothing with true intrinsic value, then they at least look for things where more people are likely assign value. Founders probably don't really think about it like this, they just look for something that people want. But it can't hurt to understand the characteristics of value at this lower level. If you can consistently find, create, or buy value, getting rich isn't too hard.