Economists and Sociologists
Over at Conglomorate, Gordon Smith asks, Why do economists think sociologists are stupid?
The question is, of course, ambiguous. Here are two interpretations:
1. What causes economists to think that sociologists are stupid?
2. What reasons do economists have for thinking sociologists are stupid?
And of course, what some economists actually think is that many sociologists are either (a) less intelligent than, or, (b) methodologically inferiror to, economists.
The interesting question is the first one. One possible answer concerns the deep methodological divide between sociology (or some sociology) and economics (or some economics). Simplifying vastly: Economists assume methodological individualism and rational choice as the baseline for good explanations in the social sciences. Sociologists assume functionalism and methodological holism. Although sophisticates on both sides of the divide may be willing to modify the baseline assumptions, they still start with the baseline and think out from their own starting point. But these baseline assumptions are deeply inconsistent. If sociologists are right, then economists are "out to lunch" and vice versa. One more piece of the puzzle. Economists express themselves in the language of mathematics, and are likely to equate technical sophistication with intelligence. Sociologists are less likely to express their ideas mathematically, and hence seem "less intelligent." Hence, it would be easy for an economist to think: sociologists are wrong headed and the reason must be that they aren't smart enough to express their ideas mathematically. Translation: sociologists disagree with my fundamental assumptions and they wouldn't be considered technically sophisticated if they were economists. Any reflective and reasonable economist is likely to reject these ideas upon due reflection, but to the extent some economists believe something like "sociologists are stupid," it is water cooler conversation and not the product of serious reflection and study.
