Friday, January 13, 2012

Sanjay Reddy - Facts and Values Are Entangled: Deal with It


Are there more poor people on our planet today than there were last year? Many economists would approach this question as mainly a technical problem, a matter of counting. Sanjay Reddy did, too, but soon recognized that a sound answer required making normative criteria explicit. Much confusion and many technical muddles in poverty measurement can be avoided, Reddy says, only if we become conscious and deliberate about how values enter the analysis. Fact and value are entangled, and Reddy shows how recognizing this leads to greater analytical clarity -- this is new economic thinking.
Watch it at INET (video

Contemporary cognitive research is demonstrating how this entanglement of positive and normative, reason and feeling, is situated at the neurological level in brain functioning.

This is hugely important from the standpoint of philosophy of economics, ethics, cognitive and behavioral economics, institutional economics, political economy or applied economics, and economic education, in fact to every aspect of economics. Moreover, it relates directly to the current debate over the MMT JG that is now raging in the blogosphere, where we see many lines of argumentation emerging as unabashedly normative.

This is a ten minute video, and it is well worth taking the time to view.

4 comments:

Matt Franko said...

This is the way I look at the other side in this Tom.

They cannot see the "reciprocity" needed in this situation. This is a mathematical relationship, ie 'reciprocity'. The 'reciprocal'.

We see the govt causing unemployment (fiat currency), and we immediately think; "this should be reciprocated". This should be "reversed". Again these are at core mathematical concepts: reciprocity.... equivalency... complementary functions...

They cannot see this.

This gets back to a lack of mathematical maturity. They cannot see 'reciprocation'. This is a cognitive deficiency of some sort.

The behavioral sciences are on to this looks like:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_determinism

they have documented some causes of this behavior.... very dark.

Tom, these are spiritually damaged people we are dealing with... the concept of 'reciprocity' has been stripped from them.

Romans 13:9 "and if there is any other precept, it is summed up in this saying, in this: "You shall love your associate as yourself."

See the 'reciprocity'?... they do not.

Resp,

Tom Hickey said...

Reciprocity is at the basis of it, Matt, and I am sure that Reddy realizes this from his study of social anthropology. All higher animals get reciprocity and even some of the lower ones, too.

Cognitive science reveals that reciprocity is based on mirror neurons. I guess some people were out to lunch when they were distributed.

Actually, it is possible to shut down neural pathways and open others through use, thereby altering brain functioning.

Clonal said...

Tom,

Reciprocity is there even at cellular levels - see the work of Bruce Lipton

Quote:
Bruce Lipton: Within us there has been a cooperative world of about 50 trillion citizens that have created a philosophy and politics of life that has enabled them to live and thrive over a million years. And what is unique about these cellular civilizations is that they can live in total bliss, which is reflected in the health and vitality that we experience.

Sounds True: How do our cells learn to live together?

Bruce Lipton: When life first appeared on this planet, for the first 3 billion years it consisted of singular cells living in a very diffuse community. But about 700 million years ago, cells learned how to cooperate and form community. Those communities of cells--which now may be as small as 10-20 cells or up to hundreds of trillions of cells--are all based on a cooperative dynamic. Every cell is a sentient being, and every cell participates and works to support the nature of the community. Some cells become heart cells; and others become bone cells; and others, nerve cells. And by specializing in their functions and working in cooperation they are able to create these unimaginable cooperative communities.


Some other Lipton Links
Humanity is On the Brink of Spontaneous Evolution
Insight into Cellular Consciousness
Bruce Lipton-Spontaneous Evolution Video in 11 parts
Spontaneous Evolution Co-Author, Steve Bhaerman

Tom Hickey said...

Nice.