HeavenlyPossum

When I was in secondary school, we were taught a lesson on the geocentric model of the solar system. It felt like a waste of time then and it still feels like a waste of time; it would have been enough to explain that it didn’t work and that we’ve since moved on to better models.

But no, we had to draw the charts and calculate the orbits and do all sorts of tedious work, I guess so we’d learn just how much effort went into trying to save a broken model. Every fix and kludge they applied created new errors, which had to be fixed, which created new errors…

I think about that sometimes when I listen to capitalism’s proponents try to explain things like infinite growth on a finite planet or maximal economic freedom in a world of total private ownership. Just kludge after kludge forever.

Dec 24, 2023 at 5:45pmWeb
Show threadStarkRGDec 24, 2023
@HeavenlyPossum We've sunk too much cost to give up now!
Show threadThe Great Llama Dec 24, 2023
@HeavenlyPossum
I hate to say it, but it sounds like there was a really useful lesson there.
Show threadCiggy Bringer of SmokeDec 24, 2023

@TheGreatLlama @HeavenlyPossum

Children coulda learned a lot about metaphor that day!

Show threadDennis ClarkDec 24, 2023

@HeavenlyPossum @TheGreatLlama

This is what Randy Pausch called a "head fake". The direct lesson on geocentric orbits was useless and you've likely forgotten all the formulae. However learning it imparted a deeper lesson on Occam's Razor which has stuck with you until today and helped you identify the BS arguments from capitalists.

If you don't know Randy Pausch, find a spare hour to watch this, I promise it's worth it: https://youtu.be/ji5_MqicxSo?si=cJf5CHCuj0pthz0Z

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

YouTube
Show threadWestern InfidelsDec 24, 2023

@HeavenlyPossum If you learned the lesson that models are always simplifications, that models are provisional, that progress in understanding often means revising or replacing models -- in short, if you learned that the map is not the territory -- then I think you learned something 80%-90% of the kids in science class never seem to learn. So maybe that effort wasn't wasted.

The real trick -- the one we all need to work on every day -- is recognizing that these caveats apply equally to our own most cherished ideas.

Show threadChris RealDec 24, 2023

@HeavenlyPossum

Economics is astrology for the rich. If you proceed from this assumption, it's easier to understand.

Show threadCatherine BerryDec 24, 2023

@HeavenlyPossum @lisamelton

My own shorthand for criticizing such attempts to fix fundamentally broken models is "You're just adding epicycles". Nobody ever knows what I mean, but I'm used to that. 🙃

Show threadFabio G.Dec 24, 2023
@HeavenlyPossum Damn, that sounds like a nice school.
Show threadmizblueprintDec 25, 2023
@HeavenlyPossum
It's been a weird day.
Show threadRichard WebbDec 28, 2023
@HeavenlyPossum
In England it is surely only a matter of time before heliocentric models are declared "woke" and taken off the curriculum. (If there is anything vaguely astronomical on their curriculum). S'Mog is probably agitating for it now.
Show threadDr KnowDec 28, 2023
@HeavenlyPossum It wasn't until a better model came around that it was replaced. But once found it did succeed in replacing it eventually.
What is that better model in this case?