By Degree

It’s hard to communicate a personal preference to someone else. Specifically, it’s hard to communicate the degree of a preference. Collaborative decisions (e.g., what kind of pizza to get) often centre around requirements and preferences. Requirements are non-negotiable. Negotiating the preferences is how the decision gets made. Preferences range from very strong to very weak:

• I will not eat a pineapple pizza unless I’m literally starving
• I hate mushrooms, so I’ll pick them off my slice
• I don’t like bell peppers, but I’ll eat them
• My optimal pizza experience does not include olives

If someone in the group hates pineapple, it would be irrational to buy a pineapple pizza. If someone in the group slightly dislikes olives it might be okay to get an olive pizza, especially if options are limited.

My preferences are usually weak, so I don’t like to give them out. Sometimes a weak preference of mine gets misinterpreted and steamrolls someone else’s stronger preference. I want to communicate the degree of my preference, because it’s usually very low.

If I had to choose, I would choose a 25˚C room over a 24˚C room. The difference is barely noticeable, but it’s there, and yes, I suppose I technically have a preference. A 1˚ difference isn’t much. If the difference is 30˚, that’s a different story because I’d rather not be in a room that’s 30˚ colder than what I’m dressed for.

That’s how I am with olives on pizza. I prefer olives off, by 1˚. If someone else loves olives by 5˚, we should get olives. That’s degree of preference.