4 ms·

High-energy physicists make up theories for the mechanisms behind phenomena that may or may not even exist all the time. One can question the utility of this b

High-energy physicists make up theories for the mechanisms behind phenomena that may or may not even exist all the time. One can question the utility of this but no one strings up such authors for heresy.

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willis936 4y ago
Theoretical physics does not aim to influence social policy.
- zozbot234 4y ago
  That's news to me. How do all those nifty particle accelerators get funded, then?
  - willis936 4y ago
    The budget is only loosely related to social policy. Social policy is related to who gets what rights and priveleges.
    - rowanG077 4y ago
      And a group of physicist getting very expensive toys while the chemist/biologist/psychologist do not is exactly that. The physicist have rights and privileges the others don't have.
- feet 4y ago
  Does this paper aim to influence policy?
  - willis936 4y ago
    Of course. All anthropological work about contemporary society seeks to inform public opinion which dictates policy.
    - feet 4y ago
      That's a pretty broad statement about a broad field. Can you provide any citations that back up your position?
      - willis936 4y ago
        Could you give any explanation for why anthropological studies on contemporary society would be published if not to share their findings?
        feet 4y ago
        >All anthropological work about contemporary society seeks to inform public opinion which dictates policy. I'm specifically asking about the goal of informing public opinion and dictating policy which is a wildly different goal than just 'sharing their findings'. Here is your claim: >Theoretical physics does not aim to influence social policy. 'aim to influence social policy' is an extremely specific goal that you're prescribing to all anthropology of modern society, I'm asking you to back up that claim
        willis936 4y ago
        I said "which", not "and". Public opinion is inherently tied to publishing findings. Their goal is to publish their findings, which informs public opinion, which dictates policy. You're claiming that I claimed that the authors prescribed policy, which I clearly did not.
        feet 4y ago
        No, I'm refuting your claim about anthropology in general having an 'aim to influence public policy'. Public policy is not the focus of anthropology, where did you get that idea? Anthropology is not political science You used very specific words that mean very specific things. 'Aim to influence' means that the goal is literally to influence public policy. That's not what the study of anthropology is about. >Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species.[1][2][3] Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, while cultural anthropology[1][2][3] studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. Anthropologists generally try not to interfere with the society they're studying, they don't want to impact the system because they are just there to record. Not to change. Of course there will be some activists in many fields but that is not the goal in anthropology. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology
- civilized 4y ago
  Are we talking about the same paper here? I thought this paper discussed a possible mechanism for a hypothesis that they openly acknowledge may or may not be true. This may be fun mathematics but it doesn't seem like any basis to influence public opinion or social policy. This paper would have definitely gone completely unnoticed, just a cute little theoretical exercise, if it hadn't been blown up into a public controversy by its critics.
- raxxorraxor 4y ago
  What social policy would you suggest a study like this could influence?
frumiousirc 4y ago
> strings I see what you did there.

deleted 4y ago

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willis936 4y ago

Theoretical physics does not aim to influence social policy.

zozbot234 4y ago
That's news to me. How do all those nifty particle accelerators get funded, then?
- willis936 4y ago
  The budget is only loosely related to social policy. Social policy is related to who gets what rights and priveleges.
  - rowanG077 4y ago
    And a group of physicist getting very expensive toys while the chemist/biologist/psychologist do not is exactly that. The physicist have rights and privileges the others don't have.
feet 4y ago
Does this paper aim to influence policy?
- willis936 4y ago
  Of course. All anthropological work about contemporary society seeks to inform public opinion which dictates policy.
  - feet 4y ago
    That's a pretty broad statement about a broad field. Can you provide any citations that back up your position?
    - willis936 4y ago
      Could you give any explanation for why anthropological studies on contemporary society would be published if not to share their findings?
      - feet 4y ago
        >All anthropological work about contemporary society seeks to inform public opinion which dictates policy. I'm specifically asking about the goal of informing public opinion and dictating policy which is a wildly different goal than just 'sharing their findings'. Here is your claim: >Theoretical physics does not aim to influence social policy. 'aim to influence social policy' is an extremely specific goal that you're prescribing to all anthropology of modern society, I'm asking you to back up that claim
        willis936 4y ago
        I said "which", not "and". Public opinion is inherently tied to publishing findings. Their goal is to publish their findings, which informs public opinion, which dictates policy. You're claiming that I claimed that the authors prescribed policy, which I clearly did not.
        feet 4y ago
        No, I'm refuting your claim about anthropology in general having an 'aim to influence public policy'. Public policy is not the focus of anthropology, where did you get that idea? Anthropology is not political science You used very specific words that mean very specific things. 'Aim to influence' means that the goal is literally to influence public policy. That's not what the study of anthropology is about. >Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species.[1][2][3] Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, while cultural anthropology[1][2][3] studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. Anthropologists generally try not to interfere with the society they're studying, they don't want to impact the system because they are just there to record. Not to change. Of course there will be some activists in many fields but that is not the goal in anthropology. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology
civilized 4y ago
Are we talking about the same paper here? I thought this paper discussed a possible mechanism for a hypothesis that they openly acknowledge may or may not be true. This may be fun mathematics but it doesn't seem like any basis to influence public opinion or social policy. This paper would have definitely gone completely unnoticed, just a cute little theoretical exercise, if it hadn't been blown up into a public controversy by its critics.
raxxorraxor 4y ago
What social policy would you suggest a study like this could influence?

frumiousirc 4y ago

> strings I see what you did there.