Fairness

Fairness

Definition: the quality of treating people equally or in a way that is right or reasonable. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/fairness

Fairness is not the same as justice, which as we just explored is focused on a means to resolve disputes.

 Fairness vs. Justice

• Justice means following a system of rules or laws, based on accepted standards. The way these rules are made and enforced shapes how fairness is viewed.
• Fairness is often a judgment of how those rules are applied.
• The Nuance: Justice might be a judge following the law exactly as written, while fairness is the public's perception of whether that specific sentence was morally right given the context.

Fairness vs. Equity

• Equity focuses on outcomes. It recognizes that people have different circumstances and provides the specific resources needed to reach an equal result.  
• Fairness (in the context of equity) means acknowledging that "fair" does not always mean "equal."
• The Difference: In a classroom, equality is giving every student the same textbook. Equity is giving a braille textbook to a student who is blind, so they have the same chance to learn.

Consider an example of a fence around a sporting event.

Equality: Giving everyone the same box to stand on to see over a fence.

Equity: Giving a taller box to the shorter person so they can see over the fence at the same height as others.

Justice/Fairness: Removing the fence entirely, so no one needs a box.

Question: why is there a fence in the first place? The answer may be property rights. A stadium has been erected to host the event with fee paying attendance to help defray the costs of running the event. An additional question may be the exclusion of free viewing. Property rights change the circumstances.

Concept	Primary Goal	View of "Fair"
Equality	Uniformity	Everyone gets the same thing.
Equity	Result/Outcome	Everyone gets what they need to succeed.
Justice	Systemic Integrity	Fixing the system so barriers don't exist.
Fairness	Moral Judgment	The quality of being impartial and just.

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Fairness is at its core related to distribution -who gets what, in what manner and can there be any redress? 

There are types of fairness. 

• Procedural Fairness (Process): Concerns the methods by which decisions are made. Individuals are generally more likely to accept an unfavorable result if they perceive that the rules have been applied consistently and that they were provided the opportunity to express their perspectives during the process.
• Interactional Fairness (Treatment): Focuses on the human element—whether individuals are treated with dignity, respect, and honesty during an interaction.

Access to education is often a major factor in the perceived Fairness of a society. Reading is the primary equalizer as so much more information and self-teaching are available when literacy reaches the required proficiency. It is how you can read this blog, which is why literacy rates are a critical factor. It is also a means to keep certain subsections of a population limited in their opportunities. Relatively unhindered information availability lets people make their own choices, but that information must be available and reliable. 

Startups and Wealth Creation 

A new venture (a startup) is often an innovative approach to create economic value. It is often a high-risk endeavor. Applying fairness to human elements includes their contribution to success. Fairness here is a tradeoff between immediate income (salary) and future wealth (equity in the sense of startup stock – “sweat equity”). 

These concepts link to other sections of this blog written in the last year and a half, from “Value and Worth” forward. "Distribution of Wealth and Income" has only cursorily been touched on in “Wealth Inequality and Why It Matters” but “Wealth Distribution Can Be Unstable” outlines the consequences of (often revolution) of unstable wealth distribution modes. In other words, historically if the distribution is viewed as grossly unfair revolution has resulted.  

Model	Fairness Logic	Best For
Equal Split	Equality principle: All founders are equally "all in."	Close-knit teams with identical risk profiles.
Junior Co-founder	Equity principle: Rewards the "prime mover" more than later helpers.	One clear visionary bringing on specialists later.
Employee Stock Options (ESOP)	Wealth participation: Aligns employee success with company success.	Scaling teams that need to attract top talent without cash.

Gemini table

Fairness even in technology can be subject to bias. The data used often is historical, so previous outcomes bias the likelihood of success of any search. Historically white men dominated all positions of power in western society. If one searches for an employee based on statistics, other races and gender may be at a disadvantage for future recommendations.  

Specific example: An algorithm used by US hospitals to predict which patients needed extra medical care underestimated the needs of Black patients. It relied on healthcare cost history, which did not account for systemic differences in how Black and white patients pay for healthcare, resulting in less care for Black patients. 

Other areas in the following table sourced from Co-Pilot. 

Example Area	Bias Manifestation	Mitigation Strategies
Criminal Justice	Racial bias in risk assessment	Diverse data, transparency, audits
Healthcare	Underestimating minority needs	Data audits, fairness-aware models
Hiring/Recruitment	Gender bias in candidate selection	Human oversight, diverse datasets
Facial Recognition	Misidentification of minorities	Data base underrepresented minorities

Humans invented Sovereignty → Rights → Justice → Property → Fairness. They all fit together but in one’s mind they do not follow sequentially. Fairness is the human reasoning capacity to see if this is all in balance. It is most often a subjective matter but based on objective observation. There is not a single method of applying Fairness. Justice is said to be blind. Fairness has its eyes wide open. There is much more to consider.

 

 

Gemini created (note all people are white)

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