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> the ‘hard’ ones (physics, chemistry, biology) considering themselves to be more legitimate than the ‘soft’ ones (psychology, sociology).” I'd like to add bus
by cies 5y ago
> the ‘hard’ ones (physics, chemistry, biology) considering themselves to be more legitimate than the ‘soft’ ones (psychology, sociology).”
I'd like to add business (economics) to the list of soft ones as well. They are all, in a way, studies of human behavior.
That is not to say that those soft fields dont apply a lot of scientific methods and use techniques discovered in "hard science" fields (statistics, calculus, etc.)
- trompetenaccoun 5y agoYep, economics definitely belongs in the social science field. The problem is, even in the "hard" sciences a lot of research is hardly scientific. When it comes to human behavior it probably could be studied in a more thorough and methodical way, but for now we simply lack the tools. Today's psychology will be considered pseudoscience in the future, same as astrology which comes from a time when we knew nothing about other solar systems.
- Aerroon 5y agoI think in some sense you can split economics as a field. There's the part that deals with mostly mathematical rules - these are things like the supply and demand curve and what they imply on a system. Then you have the part that seems to study human behavior and tries to somehow quantify it. And last, you have what I'd call politics (political activism?), where it's about trying to justify certain political decisions. Sadly, these are all mixed together.
- andrepd 5y agoWell the purely mathematical part is... just mathematics. Economics begins when you claim that certain mathematical systems are an accurate model of economic behaviour of humans.