“Muddled Models” — A View Of Economists From…The Economist Magazine
Coincidentally, the same day I criticized economists for looking at everything, including schools, through the lens of financial incentives (see
“If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail” — Economists Go After Schools Again), The Economist Magazine ran a column called “Muddled Models” saying the same thing.
Here are some excerpts:
Do economists have an accurate model of human motivation? Or do they assume that our motives are entirely mercenary?
….This other-wordly mentality is reminiscent of Catherine the Great’s aphorism about political ideas which “work only on paper, which accepts anything, is smooth and flexible and offers no obstacles either to your imagination
“If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail” — Economists Go After Schools Again), The Economist Magazine ran a column called “Muddled Models” saying the same thing.
Here are some excerpts:
Do economists have an accurate model of human motivation? Or do they assume that our motives are entirely mercenary?
….This other-wordly mentality is reminiscent of Catherine the Great’s aphorism about political ideas which “work only on paper, which accepts anything, is smooth and flexible and offers no obstacles either to your imagination
Research Studies Of The Week
I often write about research studies from various field and how they can be applied to the classroom. I write individual posts about ones that I think are especially significant, and will continue to do so. However, so many studies are published that it’s hard to keep up. So I’ve started writing a “round-up” of some of them each week or every other week as a regular feature:
It’s Good to Be the Top Banana is by Jonah Lehrer and appeared in The Wall Street Journal. It discusses research that has found stress is greatly increased by feelings of powerlessness. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Teens & Stress.
Using awareness to increase willpower is by Art Markman, who reports on an interesting study. Here is how he
It’s Good to Be the Top Banana is by Jonah Lehrer and appeared in The Wall Street Journal. It discusses research that has found stress is greatly increased by feelings of powerlessness. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Teens & Stress.
Using awareness to increase willpower is by Art Markman, who reports on an interesting study. Here is how he
Create Online Books With “Living Junction”
Living Junction lets you fairly easily create simple online books/magazines. You can search, drag and drop images onto pages, and add textboxes, too.
I’m adding it to The Best Places Where Students Can Write Online.
I’m adding it to The Best Places Where Students Can Write Online.
