More calculations

Okay I am going to start having to differentiate between two (2) kinds of "value" for anecdotes.

Av1 is the value of the telling of the anecdote for the teller. The dining out on a story, as it were. The value of a story as social lubricant, as icebreaker, as establishing the value of the teller of the anecdote. This would be measured in goods or services (as far as they can be quantified) accruing to the teller.

Av2 is the measure of the ability of the anecdote to change the outcome of something, in a choice model, let's say. So the value of Av2 is measured by the change (quantifiable) that it produces, which does not necessarily accrue to the teller.

Hm. I have to take this into chambers.

The heft of anecdotes

When thinking about the term value of anecdotes, it might also be helpful to think about heft or influence. Influence is a complicated word (as used by Harold Bloom), so I'll stick with heft for a bit. Heft means to left but it also means weight -- influential weight, that is. When something has heft, it declares itself present. It will not be ignored.

There are anecdotes with heft. I'm trying to think of them.

Oh, we're on Wikipedia!

Calculating Anecdotal Value

I suppose it's time that I stop writing anecdotes about my various bad dates and start actually trying to quantify the value of anecdotes generally. Nobody's really done it yet.

Maybe a formula would help. I propose this, to start: Av = QbCx - C(x-1)
where Av = Anecdotal Value
Qb = Quantified benefit (say the price of a dinner bought for you)
Cx = Circulation (number of times you tell the story successfully)
C (x-1) = the number past which you didn't get any benefit from telling the story.
In other words, Anecdotal value is the benefit times the number of times you can tell the story before it starts having negative value.

Hm. I'm not sure this makes any sense but it's a start....