In economics, we have a term for this lexicographic preferences. The idea that I would want to change my price is outside the model. We know in human history, it's literally not true. E.O. Wilson: Any selfish individual will always dominate any group of altruistic individuals. And so society has this tension between self-interest and social cooperation.
Economist and author Michael Munger of Duke University talks about human wants and desires with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Human beings have desires about our desires. Can we change what we want? And how should economists and normal human beings think about doing the right thing, what we often call morality? Is acting morally self-interested behavior or is it possible to act selflessly?