Ego Optimality

Above: “I am *this* much more awesome than all of you guys!”
Picture from unattributable.com

Attending a small rock concert this weekend (a good one, with the Estonian band Mild), I was struck by tremendous amount of unabashed ego displayed by the lead singer of the band. Now, in the case of an aspiring rock star, this is of course not a bad thing. In fact, I would argue that a big, proud, and unapologetic ego is mostly a very good thing for a most live performers, especially would-be rock stars. Bashfulness is certainly not often a desirable attribute when performing live in front of thousands of people (perhaps this also is part of the reason why ego-inducing, bashfulness-reducing substances have tended to be popular before such appearances).

Of course, the optimal level of ego in a rock star setting is hardly the same level that is optimal in most walks of normal life (see graph below). Of course, ego-levels may be consciously adjusted over time (here, again, the use and abuse of mind-and-mood altering substances may play a role). Nevertheless, ego levels arguably vary as much or more across individuals as it does across time for specific people. To the extent that this is true, one would of course hope that ego is allocated as efficiently as possible across the economy, such that those with a big ego are doing things that require a big ego and not doing things where a big ego is a bad thing.

Now, there is probably a great extent of feedback taking place here. To the extent that – in some fields – a little bit of ego is rewarded with a higher probability of success, and that success causes the emergence of even more ego; very rapid increases in ego can be expected until the process is sabotaged by diminishing marginal returns.

We here at Evolution-Revolution are happy to see that rock-star-dom appears to be one place where high levels of ego in fact are being efficiently allocated. In fact, anecdotal evidence from my little sister’s high school, which offers one of Norway’s best preparatory programs in music and is a breeding ground for aspiring rock-stars, would suggest that a significant number of high-ego individuals are directed into the field already at an early age.

There are, however, some areas where ego may be excessively incentivized. Politics, for instance, appear to be a field where a similar kind of ego exhibited by many successful rock stars often is rewarded with votes and popularity. I think it his highly questionable, though, whether excessive amounts of such ego is a desirable attribute of our elected politicians (see my post: “Power Corrupts”).  Here as elsewhere, externalities are pervasive.

The question remains, of course, what the optimal amount of ego for a blogger is.

Update:

I remember one very distinguished professor of mine made a note in our reading list about Paul Wilmott, a financial derivatives guru and the author of our main textbook, stating that “His immense ego is only dwarfed by the ridiculous extent to which he deserves it.” You can be a rock-star in financial derivatives, too.

March 16th.