Social Guru Shovels Wisdom Or Cow Chips?

Dan Ariely waxes long in WSJ “Decade’s Worth of Social-Science Advice” & I wax short on today's homeless camps 4 addicts, politicians denying inflation, people wearing masks while driving alone & EV batteries at $26K a pop.

The popular “Ask Ariely” columnist was writing his last column after a decade of “fielding questions about a wide range of personal and social issues.” The behavioral economist’s farewell take-away after citing some cogent examples of progress? “Ten years on, it seems to me that we have come a long way in understanding the usefulness of social science as we seek to improve many aspects of our personal lives.” He goes on to say at the same time that “we haven’t yet made up our minds about how we will treat our planet, confront fake news, cope with post-Covid workforce or mitigate the effects of inequality hatred and political fragmentation. Here, too, social science can help us understand & move forward.”

Fair enough. But, Dan, just so long as we also see & never forget how our social scientists have also botched and/or exasperated all those issues you’ve mentioned. How rushing with knee-jerk reactions to the cited problems by well-intentioned yet sometimes biased or delusional social scientists may have contributed to a cleaner planet that can’t keep its lights on, more fake news than you can shake a finger at, what Andy Kessler calls “a nation of quitters” aka slackers, millions still afraid to breath on another being & powerful demagogues who divide in the name of unity. Dan signs off with a “Irrationally yours.” I’ll sign off with “Let’s wake up and smell the coffee.”

Davd Soul