Re:20 Years Later
by pdonis on Wednesday December 30, 2020 @10:45AM
(#25582612)
> I do not share the distain for the "softer" sciences often found in the hard sciences
It depends on what the disdain is based on. If the disdain is just based on "your field isn't physics (or chemistry, etc.)", I agree that's not justified. But if the disdain is based on "your models don't make good predictions", I think it's justified. Scientific models are supposed to be judged based on whether or not they make good predictions; if they don't, they're wrong. Models that make good predictions are much, much rarer in the "soft" sciences--many such fields basically have no models with any predictive power at all, yet their proponents claim they are "sciences" and want their models to be used to, for example, make public policy.
It depends on what the disdain is based on. If the disdain is just based on "your field isn't physics (or chemistry, etc.)", I agree that's not justified. But if the disdain is based on "your models don't make good predictions", I think it's justified. Scientific models are supposed to be judged based on whether or not they make good predictions; if they don't, they're wrong. Models that make good predictions are much, much rarer in the "soft" sciences--many such fields basically have no models with any predictive power at all, yet their proponents claim they are "sciences" and want their models to be used to, for example, make public policy.