Category Archives: Philosophy Shit

Identitarian Deference and Testimonial Reasoning

Posted on September 10, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

A while ago, when our intellectual betters decided that trigger warnings were the death knell of the Republic, I described the underlying problem–testimonial reasoning: It’s not emotional reasoning, but what I’ll call testimonial reasoning. As a rule of thumb, whenever … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy Shit | 2 Comments

P-Hacking Is a Poor Reason For Replication Problems

Posted on September 3, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

With the recent release of the results from the Reproducibility Project–an effort to replicate 100 experimental findings in social psychology–there has been a lot of commentary and coverage about the finding that the majority of the studies failed to replicate. … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy Shit, Statistics | 1 Comment

Accentuate the …Normative?

Posted on July 22, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

While it might be a constant joke that economists and humans don’t think in the same way, consider this description of economists’ views of unions: Most economists, for instance, see the weakening of trade unions in the U.S. and other … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Philosophy Shit | Comments Off on Accentuate the …Normative?

Is Economics a Science? And If Not, Then What Is It?

Posted on December 28, 2011 by mikethemadbiologist

A recent guest post at Naked Capitalism by economics student Jake Romero lists “Ten Principles of Responsible Economics.” What intrigued me was principle #10 (boldface original): 10) In theory, economics is a science. In reality, economics is a science the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Philosophy Shit | 6 Comments

Why Tenured Professors Should Never Be Allowed to Opine About Free Trade or Free Markets

Posted on June 23, 2011 by mikethemadbiologist

The woof and warp of the Chicago school of economics.
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Posted in Conservatives, Economics, Philosophy Shit | 11 Comments

When Economists Misunderstand Biology

Posted on March 21, 2011 by mikethemadbiologist

And why it matters: we need economists to be better economists.
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Posted in Ecology, Economics, Evolution, Philosophy Shit | 44 Comments

Saturday Sermon: Waldmann on the Limits of Deduction

Posted on February 19, 2011 by mikethemadbiologist

One can be really clever and derive how the world could or should work. This might or might not have anything to do with how the world actually works.
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Posted in Economics, Philosophy Shit | 3 Comments

And You Thought I Could Be Brutal About Economics: The Limits of Deduction

Posted on August 2, 2010 by mikethemadbiologist

Deduction alone, without any checks, is a weird way to think, albeit politically convenient.
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Posted in Economics, Philosophy Shit | 15 Comments

Unscientific America and Positive Versus Normative Statements

Posted on August 11, 2009 by mikethemadbiologist

The needed distinction between positive statements–the way things are or will be–and normative statements–the way things ought to be.
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Posted in Philosophy Shit | 7 Comments