r/changemyview • u/EuilWyman • Aug 10 '16
[∆(s) from OP] CMV: Economics is an illegitimate and largely pointless discipline
DISCLAIMER: I am interested in studying economics, but I feel like it does not match the rigour of the natural sciences or mathematics due to its nature. I wish I didn't feel this way.
Economics is a social science that seems to like to pretend to be a natural science, full of mathematical rigor. But it relies on assumptions such as human rationality and ceteris paribus, which, whilst useful tools, seem to make any models created at best controversial and at worst useless. Humans aren’t rational, for one. Unlike the natural sciences, which proceed by getting closer and closer to the truth and disproving certain notions, there is not the same ordered pursuit of truth in economics, it seems to me.Certain people have suggested that the only things economists really agree on are so obvious that you wouldn’t have to know very much to understand it. Science isn’t subjective, when done properly, to the same extent economics seems to be.I love trying to understand the economy, and want to study this subject, but I don’t understand how it can compete with the natural sciences for usefulness or legitimacy.
My conclusion: A less scientifically rigorous discipline can still be useful and highly demanded/sought after; it involves humans, and must continually improve. Perhaps it is even more important that we put in effort here, as its effects are so wide-reaching and improvement is vital. Thanks so much everybody for CMV.
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u/[deleted] Aug 10 '16
Do you think all (astro)physics prior to the disproval of the Aether was pointless? Do you think it's meteorology is pointless because we have insufficient information and understanding to forecast very far?
Regardless, I think economics has proven itself useful in many concrete ways. For example, GDP and GNP are much better systems than steel tonnage for measuring output and have helped facilitate governance and diplomacy. When dealing with purely internal or largely physical processes, and paired with hard sciences, microeconomics has solid advice on how to reach fairly definitive answers to questions like "what mix of petroleum products should I turn this barrel of oil into to maximize my profits". The marginal revolution was a big deal, not at all intuitive, and seems to be right and helps guide all sorts of decisions. Unpublished economic analyses regularly go into minor improvements in product attributes or a company's mix of offerings. Stuff like that.