The Benchmark State™
Since humans (as any other objects in the Universe) can be thought of composed of particles, from a quantum mechanical point of view, we could also view humans being composed of waves.
If that is the case, we could hypothetically measure the frequency of these waves. In fact, neuroscientists are already measuring frequencies of brainwaves.
What if we continue the analogy and along with measuring the GDP, could find a wave analog of it? Proposal such as GNH (gross national happiness) were made that lead us closer to the quantum definition.
And what is happiness? it’s an emotional state. So, perhaps we could say that there are certain desirable states that are indicative of progress and certain states that aren’t?
For instance, states of doubt and fear could be considered archaic, no longer serving humans. On the contrary, the states of happiness and confidence could be considered desirable.
Why would then we as a species not define the goals as states that we desire to achieve?
What if we could call them Benchmark States? And measure progress along these benchmarks. Benchmarks are going to shift and be context-dependent.
However, the direction will be very clear and we could start thinking in terms of vehicles we want to keep and build — the ones that deliver these states. And discard those that don’t.
Media that generates states of doubt and fear would not be considered ‘public good’ any longer. As long as we could rank and place the states along a one-dimensional axis, and thereafter evaluate economic outcomes/products/services with respect to that axis, we would be able to make meaningful quantifiable policy decisions.
Infusing products (in particular, software products) with Benchmark States is what human-centric companies aspire to do.
If this is done consistently over a long enough period of time, we may notice that people opt in to software solutions delivering Benchmark States rather than those that don’t. And as a species we arrive at the equilibrium where Benchmark States of clarity, confidence, boldness, abundance, and love become self-fulfilling prophecies.