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Comment by blfr | Hacker News Reader

I find it odd that economists generally ignore the field of human psychology / behavior in their assessments.

Psychology, especially social psychology, is an epistemological disaster area[1][2] and everyone would be better off ignoring its "findings", not just economists.

[1] http://www.nature.com/news/over-half-of-psychology-studies-f...

[2] http://michaelinzlicht.com/getting-better/2016/2/29/reckonin...

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You mean to tell me a subject still in its infancy, studying some of the most complex and dynamic systems, has some bad findings? Shocking

As someone who studied psychology, I've always recognized a lot of it is a bunch of wankery (as everyone should). That doesn't mean you toss it out, it means you think critically about any findings. This is the same reason I'm wary of a lot of economic talk: it's another social science studying something possibly even more complex. People seem to often carry a definitive tone

Economy is similar (though perhaps not as horrible) - economic Nobel laureates have profound disagreements w.r.t. basic "laws" of economy.

Out of curiosity, could you give an example?

Keynes vs Hayek (well Keynes didn't get a Nobel, but is nevertheless regarded as a seminal thinker in the field) - their views on the role the state can and should play in shaping the economy are totally opposite. The debate is unresolved to this day, with Keynesians taking an upper hand post-2008.

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