memes

Does it matter tho? It's all useful in some way or another.

the number of comments here who use hard sciences' criteria as the ones and only defining the validity of knowledge is concerning. Human sciences don't have the same foundations, methodologies, etc. as harde sciences, they don't have the same system of validation either, which doesn't mean it's less valid.

“Water makes most things it touches wet. Change my mind.”

Economics is a branch of philosophy. It doesn’t just observe norms, it creates them. Any descriptive model in economics is also prescriptive.

If a well-regarded economist publicly says the stock market will crash tomorrow, then it will crash, regardless of the soundness of their logic leading up to the statement — even if it was the result of a cocaine binge, botched autocorrect, or a stroke.

This is why treating economics like a hard science is so dangerous. If the prevailing “thought leaders” advocate for a model that says XYZ people are mathematically doomed to live in abject, dehumanizing squallor… then that’s exactly what will happen, regardless of whether that was true before they said it.

Edit: It’s also why it’s such a crime that we only teach neoclassical economics in K-12, as if it’s the One True Way™.

Our econ prof told us "Never trust a statistic you haven't forged yourself".

Now hold on guys... I think I would put it slightly more useful than reading tea leaves.

Well, the human mind is based on chemistry/physics sooo