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20 sats \ 17 replies \ @Undisciplined 18h \ parent \ on: Are Pro-Natalists the Real Malthusians? econ
Models can be plenty useful. They just shouldn’t be confused with The Truth.
Since people are involved, any observed relationships are subject to change.
Since people are involved, any observed relationships are subject to change.
This is always true and why mathematical and statistical models do not seem to work in the realm of human actions and interactions. Too many people are wrapped up in the model of physics to understand that humans are not random acting particles,
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I guess that’s where we differ. I’d say models often work fine, until they don’t.
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Perhaps the models only work within specified limits and any time other factors or going outside the limits of the model happens, they fail. I guess you could say that within the limits models work fine. That is my problem with models. There seems to be less problems with deductive or inductive reasoning, IMHO.
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I think the word "models" is just too broad. There's a wide range of models, from statistical models that just illustrate relationships in the data without any reference to human action, to theoretical models that start by positing the rational choice framework and works their way up from there--these are explicitly based on human action, but they often make bad assumptions about the humans. And then of course there's everything in between.
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I guess you are saying that there are all kinds of useless for purpose models due to faulty assumptions or faulty baselines or even, faulty reasoning.
Whenever I think of models, I look at one of my kids clay representations of a cat and wonder if this is what modeling is all about. We know what the inputs are and what the outputs are supposed to look like, but there is no semblance of input to output when all is said and done, at least in terms of economic theory.
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I think the extreme negative attitude that Austrians have towards models of any kind is really limiting their ability to move forward as a system of economic thought. It's too bad because I agree with Austrian on many things