DennyNov 24, 2022
Economics: Humans only value things monetarily.
Sociology: Uh, I don't ...
Economics: Humans are always rational and value is calculated by a complex inner calculus.
Sociology: Uh, Psy, can you help?
Psychology: That's not how humans ...
Economics: ALSO MY SYSTEM WILL GROW EXPONENTIALLY FOREVER!!
Physics: *drops teacup*
Show threadJonxe Hart (they/them)Nov 25, 2022

@denny

Everyone: Hey Economics, your assumptions are not just objectively wrong, they are absurd.

Economics: *holding their fingers in their ears* "NA NANANANANNA I DON'T HEAR YOU!!! Free hands! Adam Smith! YOU CANNOT CHANGE OUR MINDS!!! We are a real science!"

Everyone else: *Picard face palm*

Show threadTom von ClefNov 30, 2022

@JonxeHart @denny

But economics is not like that. Even Adam Smith:

"But the rich and powerful, Smith argued, are neither happier nor morally superior to other people. They are often miserable and vicious. And they use our illusions about them to justify their privileges. Elites benefit from inequalities of wealth and power in our society because the basic structure of our emotional life, sympathy, leads us to identify with our oppressors."

https://psyche.co/ideas/adam-smith-warned-us-about-sympathising-with-the-elites

Adam Smith warned us about sympathising with the elites | Psyche Ideas

Sympathy is both key to human psychology and source of much of our misery. For Adam Smith, the philosophical life is the cure

Psyche
Show threadTom von Clef

@JonxeHart @denny

'Nevertheless, [Adam Smith] was wary of businessmen and warned of their "conspiracy against the public or in some other contrivance to raise prices". Again and again, Smith warned of the collusive nature of business interests, which may form cabals or monopolies, fixing the highest price "which can be squeezed out of the buyers". Smith also warned that a business-dominated political system would allow a conspiracy of businesses and industry...'
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith

Adam Smith - Wikipedia

Nov 30, 2022 at 7:01pmWeb