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Discussion and Debate
Discussion and Debate
Physical & Life Sciences
Why aren't the natural sciences more welcoming?
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<blockquote data-quote="Standing_Ultraviolet" data-source="post: 64289516" data-attributes="member: 266500"><p>Just to add a note here, while the social science may <em>seem </em>more inviting and easier to get involved in than the natural sciences, that's only at the most basic level.</p><p></p><p>Case in point, when people think of political science (my area of study), they think of the type of pundits you see on the news. What most people <em>don't</em> think of are the things that we actually do. We analyze pundits to see what their incentive structures look like, and we find that they're lacking because their utility is maximized by making unrealistic predictions. Instead of talking about how "stupid" Republicans are in Congress, we analyze the complex nested game that they play with other legislators, their own party, their constituents, and the executive branch. Instead of ranting about how terrorists hate us for our freedom, we study whether groups are motivated by existential constructs or by rational economic choice, and we argue with each other over how best to discern that from statistical data regarding per capita income, terrorist murder rates, and qualitative data coming from extremist mission statements.</p><p></p><p>In a lot of ways, there's more of a perception that the social sciences are easy, when they're really very hard and often involve more mathematical analysis than most individuals expect.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Standing_Ultraviolet, post: 64289516, member: 266500"] Just to add a note here, while the social science may [I]seem [/I]more inviting and easier to get involved in than the natural sciences, that's only at the most basic level. Case in point, when people think of political science (my area of study), they think of the type of pundits you see on the news. What most people [I]don't[/I] think of are the things that we actually do. We analyze pundits to see what their incentive structures look like, and we find that they're lacking because their utility is maximized by making unrealistic predictions. Instead of talking about how "stupid" Republicans are in Congress, we analyze the complex nested game that they play with other legislators, their own party, their constituents, and the executive branch. Instead of ranting about how terrorists hate us for our freedom, we study whether groups are motivated by existential constructs or by rational economic choice, and we argue with each other over how best to discern that from statistical data regarding per capita income, terrorist murder rates, and qualitative data coming from extremist mission statements. In a lot of ways, there's more of a perception that the social sciences are easy, when they're really very hard and often involve more mathematical analysis than most individuals expect. [/QUOTE]
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Why aren't the natural sciences more welcoming?
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