The man behind the sphere, Freeman Dyson, is dead at 96:
Freeman Dyson, a physicist whose interests often took him to the edge of science fiction, has died at the age of 96. Dyson is probably best known for his idea of eponymous spheres that would allow civilizations to capture all the energy radiating off a star. But his contributions ranged from fundamental physics to the practicalities of using nuclear weapons for war and peace. And he remained intellectually active into his 90s, although he wandered into the wrong side of science when it came to climate change.
Degrees? Who needs 'em?
It's difficult to find anything that summarizes a career so broad, but a sense of his intellectual energy comes from his educational history. Dyson was a graduate student in physics when he managed to unify two competing ideas about quantum electrodynamics, placing an entire field on a solid theoretical foundation. Rather than writing that up as his thesis, he simply moved on to other interests. He didn't get a doctorate until the honorary ones started arriving later in his career. His contributions were considered so important that he kept getting faculty jobs regardless.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday March 01 2020, @05:07AM (9 children)
Economics is an area where science is sometimes crowded out of academia in favour of something politically correct.
What fields are immune, however? There's even a politically correct physics, though it hasn't caught on very widely yet, /Fortuna gratias/.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Sunday March 01 2020, @08:42AM (8 children)
A quote from Dyson:
According to that view, science seeks fundamental truths. I disagree with the "why" question, but that's a separate issue.
Economics depends on ever-changing human behavior. Such a subject, which is built on shifting sands, will never deliver fundamental truths. It is not enough to apply the scientific method to call what you're doing science.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday March 01 2020, @02:33PM (7 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethology
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Sunday March 01 2020, @05:28PM (6 children)
Ethology can be science, sure. Am I wandering into a trap here?
(Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday March 01 2020, @05:59PM (5 children)
Are humans not animals?
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Sunday March 01 2020, @07:28PM (4 children)
Humans are animals, but much of human behavior goes beyond animal instincts. To call someone an animal is to attribute unusual primal behavior to them. There are unchanging instincts, but once those are modulated by higher brain function which depends on culture, everything is in flux.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Monday March 02 2020, @05:10AM (3 children)
It is simply to classify them correctly.
Animal-Mammal-Primate-Ape-Hominid.
Human behavior is just one subset of animal behavior.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Monday March 02 2020, @05:44AM (2 children)
I disagree, but this is probably a dead end.
My other point, with khallow above could be summarized as:. Humans would be doing just as well today if economics didn't exist as an academic discipline. Maybe even better. Unless you dislike technology, the same can't be said for real sciences like physics, biology / medicine, or chemistry. That speaks to a fundamental difference.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Monday March 02 2020, @02:35PM (1 child)
https://fee.org/resources/economics-in-one-lesson/
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Monday March 02 2020, @08:41PM
I studied a few semesters of economics long ago, and don't need that lesson.I'm writing the academic subject off, because its contribution to humanity is not discernible. Yet, its contribution to political noise is easy to detect.