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Economists and Psychopaths

I have, for a very long time, maintained that scientific models of human behaviour that treat humans as machines are a simplistic and destructive projection on the part of scientists. Such models have been particularly prominent since the work of Francis Crick and his colleagues in discovering DNA. My own view has been that the metaphor of a computer is simply that – a metaphor. The computer itself is a human invention, in other words, an offspring of the human mind. It is something contained within the human mind, and yet scientists have reversed this to advocate the idea that everything is contained within the metaphor of the computer. The metaphor becomes literal. People begin to emulate this simplified version of human life, to turn themselves into computers to fit their own projection.

All of this I find to be quite vile and sinister. However, I know very well that if I express such views, I am merely a lay person speaking out of his own intuition. I am very grateful, therefore, when someone else can put in the time and join up the dots for me. Such a person is Adam Curtis, with his new documentary series The Trap – What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom?. If you have a chance to watch this documentary, I very much recommend it. I don't have the time to give a digest of it here, I'm afraid. However, I will leave you with the thought with which the second part of this documentary ended:

It has been found that the only people who really fit the simplified mathematical model of self-interested rational behaviour at all times are economists and psychopaths.

10 Replies to “Economists and Psychopaths”

  1. I found the study of economics intolerable. The models bore no relation to the actualities. The entire system seems to be designed to inhibit progress; a bureaucratic fiction imposing itself on reality.

  2. I made the acquaintance of an economist at Kyoto University. He seemed to think that economics was all going down the chute because – if I recall correctly – of what you have said, people coming up with an economic model first and trying to fit the world into it, rather than looking at the world and trying to describe it economically. I have to say, it’s not really a subject that’s at the top of my list of interests, though.

  5. Hello Catherine. Thank you. That’s great.I notice some interesting comments under the YouTube clips:I am sorry people… YouTube has, for some unknown reason, deleted parts 5 and 6. “After being flagged by members of the YouTube community and reviewed by YouTube staff, the video below has been removed due to its inappropriate nature.” I have no idea why yet, as they have not provided a reason… They are very important segments, pretty much negating the entire profession of Psychiatry… is this the reason why?”of course only videos EXPOSING the nwo get banned as well as the users who post them.
    keep on workin brother I’m glad this is here. It needs to be seen in the US as well as the UK, and I can’t imagine how else that would happen. This is an important documentary series and needs to be seen by as many people as possible. You would never see a documentary like this from a US network. Great doc. Thanks very much for posting this. It’s so important we know why we’re in the mess we are, why the markets govern our lives, and why we’re encouraged to see ourselves as nothing more than individual wealth makers who should pour scorn on ideas of community and social responsibility.

  8. “You may have heard about the footage from the BBC reporting the collapse of WTC7 half an hour before it happened:”I think I might have heard about it vaguely. The problem with these things is that they usually seem to end up as one person’s word against another. It’s a bit frustrating. Still, it’s a suggestive article. On the same theme, there’s this:http://blogs.smh.com.au/photographers/archives/2007/03/its_all_in_your_mind.html

  9. I saw the 2nd episode the other day, unfortunately I missed the first. Both episodes are available on the eDonkey and Torrent p2p networks.The 3rd episode is on Sunday 25 21:00 – 22:00 on BBC2.

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