Razib and I on Bloggingheads.tv : Pure Pedantry

Reality is always more complicated than you think.

Profile

Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC getting a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience. He holds a BS and MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. If a volcano were to erupt Pompei-style in Central Park, his body would be preserved in a scoliotic posture over his lab desk. Archeaologists would later conclude that he spent most of his day training rats to perform tricks, until he went blind building electrical equipment by hand using a dissecting microscope. But, still, he died happy...because science is cool.

Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.

DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision-making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments I currently attend or attended in the past.

Search

Razib and I on Bloggingheads.tv

Category: Economics • Genetics • Neuroscience
Posted on: April 27, 2009 1:06 PM, by NotoriousLTP

Razib and I have a discussion up at Bloggingheads.tv about genetics and behavior as well as a brief discussion of neuroeconomics. Check it out below the fold:

Share this: Facebook Twitter Stumbleupon Reddit Email + More

Find more posts in: Brain & Behavior Life Science

Comments

You both seemed to believe that economic rationality is defined by how you respond to one price signal: that of money. This disregards a host of other things, like the fact that as a scientist you're being paid to play much of the time.

Economics is not really about money and if you read Mises, Hayek, and the other Austrians, they make this clear. Reading Keynes will have you believing that business cycles are inexplicable, saving money is detrimental to society even if it's good for you, and that building pyramids is a legitimate way to "stimulate" a people out of a recession.

Posted by: Healthy Markup | April 28, 2009 6:47 AM

Economics is not really about money and if you read Mises, Hayek, and the other Austrians, they make this clear.

If you read the thousands of non-Austrian economists, other than the monetarists, they too, make this very clear. The very phrase "money illusion" was coined by Keynes.

Reading Keynes will have you believing that business cycles are inexplicable,

This must be some other Keynes. The Keynes I am familiar with is John Maynard Keynes, who provided a brilliant explanation of the business cycle.

saving money is detrimental to society even if it's good for you,

You mean, just like the Japanese did in the 90s? It's called a "paradox" for a very good reason. I bet you're still stuck trying to figure out how those tiny little dimes can be worth more than those big shiny pennies!

and that building pyramids is a legitimate way to "stimulate" a people out of a recession.

Keynes (the one I'm thinking of, that is) said it would be a success, not that it was legitimate. He explicitly preferred building things people would also be able to use.

By the way, what, exactly, was the point of your little tweet? Economics is a humongous field, including areas like neuroeconomics that are far removed from unimportant issues like whether the Austrians are worthless morons who like to show off their stupidity by posting irrelevant rants or whether Austrians are pitiful jerks who like to show off their mastery of Twitter everywhere.

Posted by: william e emba | May 4, 2009 10:36 AM

I will continue to read your blog, It was interesting to read, thanks a lot! Although it is not the information I needed.

Posted by: Degenerative Arthritis | October 29, 2009 12:51 PM