4 ms·

> Similarly I also asked someone I know who wants to a do a PhD in economics what he thought about the current macroeconomic situation in the US and he had no t

by vostok 4y ago

> Similarly I also asked someone I know who wants to a do a PhD in economics what he thought about the current macroeconomic situation in the US and he had no thoughts at all. I understand your friend very well. I love meaningless speculation about topics that are unrelated to my area of expertise, but topics that are remotely close to my area of knowledge are off limits for me. I know exactly how much I don't know and feel uncomfortable speculating without inserting caveats between every other word.

fnbr 4y ago
And getting a PhD in Economics teaches you quickly how little macroeconomics you understand.
- chemicalnovae 4y ago
  The essence of this is true of basically every PhD in a quantitative field. I think its one of the things that makes people walk away after starting.
SturgeonsLaw 4y ago
> I know exactly how much I don't know and feel uncomfortable speculating without inserting caveats between every other word. This reminds me of people with a scientific background who take a very measured and cautious approach when talking about those topics ("the research suggests...", "it's likely that...", etc) which is interpreted by laymen as little more than a guess. Contrast that to any drongo with a blog who feels fine unleashing an unfounded, agenda-driven diatribe of misinformation - but does so confidently - and you have an uphill battle to win the hearts and minds of those who don't have the foundational knowledge to understand the science themselves, or the critical thinking skills to evaluate the information and the people producing it.
mhh__ 4y ago
Think more like "Is anyone home?" silence. I wasn't expecting basically anything it was just idle chit-chat, just expect someone doing economics to have some basic idea of economy good / economy bad. Are interest rates low? Not sure if he would've known. This guy is extremely clever and has a scholarship to die for he just isn't very curious.

by vostok 4y ago

fnbr 4y ago

And getting a PhD in Economics teaches you quickly how little macroeconomics you understand.

chemicalnovae 4y ago
The essence of this is true of basically every PhD in a quantitative field. I think its one of the things that makes people walk away after starting.

SturgeonsLaw 4y ago

> I know exactly how much I don't know and feel uncomfortable speculating without inserting caveats between every other word. This reminds me of people with a scientific background who take a very measured and cautious approach when talking about those topics ("the research suggests...", "it's likely that...", etc) which is interpreted by laymen as little more than a guess. Contrast that to any drongo with a blog who feels fine unleashing an unfounded, agenda-driven diatribe of misinformation - but does so confidently - and you have an uphill battle to win the hearts and minds of those who don't have the foundational knowledge to understand the science themselves, or the critical thinking skills to evaluate the information and the people producing it.

mhh__ 4y ago

Think more like "Is anyone home?" silence. I wasn't expecting basically anything it was just idle chit-chat, just expect someone doing economics to have some basic idea of economy good / economy bad. Are interest rates low? Not sure if he would've known. This guy is extremely clever and has a scholarship to die for he just isn't very curious.