Quote of the Day
6 July 2006 at 7:15 am Nicolai Foss 4 comments
| Nicolai Foss |
David Colander: “Is game theory the answer to everything?”
Ken Binmore: “Yes. All of social science is just a branch of game theory. Unfortunately, we don’t know much game theory yet, and so this insight doesn’t get us very far!”
Quoted from p. 74 of Colander, Holt and Rosser.2004. The Changing Face of Economics: Conversations With Cutting Edge Economists.
Entry filed under: - Foss -, Methods/Methodology/Theory of Science.
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Organizations and Markets 
1. Doctor Recommended » Analogies of the day | 6 July 2006 at 11:28 pm
[…] Game theory is to economics as string theory is to physics. […]
2.
JC | 7 July 2006 at 9:07 am
Game theory as the answer to everything?
Given that I’m watching the tennis at Wimbledon, this sounds like Federer’s opening serve. But Nadal is there, replying with “How did you get on court, Roger? And who made the rules of this game? Can you be serious suggesting there are uiversal, deep Chomsky-esque rules – applying to chess and the decathalon run in Ancient Athens, as well as to what we’re doing here today? And if rules are NOT universal, but socially, technoogically, or historically contingent, then there is a role for sociology outside this game. Now return that, Roger”
3.
Sai | 7 July 2006 at 10:30 am
I work in the area of complex networks and naturally, all of social science seems to me to be just a branch of complex networks!
4.
JC | 9 July 2006 at 6:45 pm
Ah well Sai, what is a network? And what is being networked? And what kind of relationship constitutes a link? Aand what do you mean by complex? I suspect you take all these sociological notions for granted.
One of the problems with sociology, like psychology, is that, equipped with the layperson’s sense of common-sense, we all think we understand it. It turns out that the more one looks at society and its antics the more puzzling it all becomes. Some may think this a good reason not to study sociology seriously.
But how are we to understand behaviors like wars and poverty – and economics – without some study of sociology?