That's one of the ironies of our time: Right when we're on the edge of serious improvements in health care, we're also cooking the planet.
Kim Stanley RobinsonRead
Economics was like psychology, a pseudoscience trying to hide that fact with intense theoretical hyperelaboration. And gross domestic product was one of those unfortunate measurement concepts, like inches or the British thermal unit, that ought to have been retired long before.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques economics as a poorly understood discipline, akin to psychology, which overcomplicates its theories, while questioning the relevance of certain measurement concepts.
Kim Stanley Robinson suggests that economics, similar to psychology, struggles with its scientific legitimacy and often obscures this fact with complex theories. He specifically critiques the use of gross domestic product (GDP) as a measure, likening it to outdated units of measurement that should not be relied upon, implying that both fields need reevaluation regarding their foundational principles and methodologies.
Themes
EconomicsPsychologyMeasurementTheoryGdp
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the limitations of economic theories, a professor could use this quote to discuss the validity of GDP as a measurement.
More from Kim Stanley Robinson
All quotes →If the amount of money going into the war economy were invested in landscape restoration, we would be in a far more positive position. It may get a little dire before we pull together, but I think when the prosperous nations, and in particular the U.S., realize they're wrecking their own kids' lives, there will be a mass change in value.
Kim Stanley RobinsonRead
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