Undiminishing Marginal Utility

 4 minutes read.

If you think deeply, the one thing you may want in life is a product that provides you with undiminishing marginal utility.

This is a situation where the additional satisfaction gained from consuming one more unit of the good does not decrease, no matter how much is consumed -it rather increases over time.

Is this real? You may wonder. The truth is it is. Hopefully, at the end of this blog, you will understand fully.

 

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What is the law of diminishing marginal utility?

Say you went for a run but forgot to bring a water bottle. As you’re heading home, dehydration sets in, and all you can think about is water. In your mind, a single cup won't satisfy you -only an ocean could quench your thirst.

You get home and the first thing you do is run to the fridge and get that cup of water that you so desperately needed.

But something strange happens after that first cup, you're still thirsty. You pour another and another, and yet another.

If you were given that same cup of water you so desperately needed a few minutes ago for the twentieth time, you’ll probably think you're being punished.

This exemplifies the law of diminishing marginal utility.

“The law of diminishing marginal utility states that as each additional unit of a good or service is consumed, the marginal utility decreases.” (Study, 2022)

This means that humans cannot be totally satisfied with at least one resource to the point that they can fully depend on it for ultimate survival.

Don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing wrong with consuming goods or acquiring riches (1 Kings 9:26-28). God has given us a variety of goods to enjoy, and we have the freedom to choose among them. However, that doesn’t mean our ultimate satisfaction or survival can be found in any of them.

Why is this so?

In Genesis 1:11, during creation, God told Earth to bring forth grass. In verse 20, He told the waters to bring forth aquatic creatures and the arboreal creatures for the sky all according to their kind. In verse 24, God told the earth to bring forth living creatures, also according to their kind.

By this point, a clear pattern is seen: every creature that originates from a specific place is made to rely on it for sustenance and survival.

However, when God wanted to create man in verse 26, He spoke to himself. Showing that we were designed to depend on God -and God alone.

Yes, God gave us resources to enjoy and be merry so much so that He created a garden for Adam immediately after his creation (Genesis 1:29).  However, that garden, and even the works of his hands after the fall, were never intended to be his source of ultimate dependence and satisfaction.

Misconception about Utility

Today, society often defines happiness through things like good food, a great vacation quality education, or a successful career. While none of these is necessarily bad, once we attain what we longed for, we quickly find ourselves wanting more. Satisfaction remains superficial.

The problem is that we are searching for undiminishable marginal utility in a place where it cannot be found.

Actual Utility

I am here to change the narrative.

It's not a surprise that we cannot attain actual utility with material things, as that’s not our source.

We were not built to be truly satisfied with the things that we ‘work’ for, but rather with God who is our source.

True satisfaction/fulfillment comes from God. (Psalm 107:9, Matthew 5:6)



How can one achieve undiminishing marginal utility?

There is a well that never runs dry and the bread of life that offers constant marginal utility. When we drink from this well, we would never thirst and when we eat of this bread, we would never hunger (John 6:35).

Note that if this is what you want, you must remain thirsty, and hungry for God, which I know is contrary to the view of society.

It may seem unrealistic but it's real.

The undiminishing marginal utility doesn’t come from what we have but from whom we know -The Holy Spirit- Jesus Christ in you.

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Bibliography

Bible Gateway (2024) Bible Gateway. Available at: https://www.biblegateway.com/ 

Study (2022) Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/diminishing-marginal-utility-definition-principle-examples.html.

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