Re:If Sociologists Had as Much Influence as Economists
by yummyfajitas on Saturday March 18, 2017 @09:52PM
(#13904697)
Devinhelton explicitly said that sociology made the wrong predictions about desegregation: "Many school reforms ideas (desegregation, ... But the theories were wrong, so the solutions did not work."
I'm in favor of desegregation on capitalist grounds. I think it's unjust to legally force me to discriminate if I don't want to. In much the same way, I think it's unjust to force me to use yellow cabs rather than Uber, or prevent me from purchasing services from an unlicensed barber.
If a theory predicts X, and X doesn't occur, that shows the theory to be wrong. The theory should be discarded even if it supports policies I otherwise favor. That's true even if the predictions are on something that's unimportant.
Similarly, if I build a stock market prediction model, and it makes me money but incorrectly predicts how I make money, I'm probably switching it off. The reason is that it is clearly wrong, and will likely lose me money next time.
I'm in favor of desegregation on capitalist grounds. I think it's unjust to legally force me to discriminate if I don't want to. In much the same way, I think it's unjust to force me to use yellow cabs rather than Uber, or prevent me from purchasing services from an unlicensed barber.
If a theory predicts X, and X doesn't occur, that shows the theory to be wrong. The theory should be discarded even if it supports policies I otherwise favor. That's true even if the predictions are on something that's unimportant.
Similarly, if I build a stock market prediction model, and it makes me money but incorrectly predicts how I make money, I'm probably switching it off. The reason is that it is clearly wrong, and will likely lose me money next time.