"I don't see any method at all, sir."

[nyuanshin]

I'm used to the low buzz of annoyance that I get from reading about bad theory in the social sciences -- especially in "hot" fields like hedonics, decision-making, and moral judgment -- but reading this gee-whiz article (via tdj) on some recent work in moral psychology evoked the kind of visceral resentment that comes from being acutely disappointed

Comments

[colinmarshall]

Narrow specialism is an impediment to the growth of science, but one thing you can say about specialists is that they actually know things

That's some Line of the Day material right there.

[nyuanshin]

Damn, now I wish I'd put more effort into making that maximally pithy.

[colinmarshall]

Too late now. There's no way to edit Livejournal entries.

[nyuanshin]

Edit? Me? Pshaw!

[selfishgene]

Nice attack on Hauser. I was mulling over an attack similar to your 'patient is the fat man' one. This was based on a presentation not reading his book. I bought the book but I haven't read it yet.
I disagree with your remark 'Best is the middle way'. There is no universal best way for anything. We can develop good strategies but any strategy could turn out to be the wrong answer due to facts not known.
'You have to use that big, expensive glucose sink sitting in that thickly armored hemisphere between your ears.'

[nyuanshin]

Heh heh heh.

That would be why I didn't use the modifier "universal".