1. So I have a few thoughts on Richard A. Epstein, shoddy contrarian arguments about coronavirus pandemic, the anti-empiricism of Austrian economics, the popularity of dubious neo-Larmarckian biology among conservatives, John Lukacs, & the science fiction of Gene Wolfe.
-
-
10. Epstein's belief that viruses evolve quickly and in benign direction derives from the crackpot neo-Lamarckism and social Darwinism he acquired from Hayek. It's what he meant when he said he's offering the "standard economic-evolutionary theory out of Darwin."
Show this thread -
11. It's also what Epstein meant when he said, "I’m not an empiricist." In the Austrian tradition, he believes theoretical approach of Hayek has more explanatory power than mere evidence-based models of epidemiologists.
Show this thread -
12. Epstein is not just a lone crackpot whose paper got widely read in GOP circles. Epstein has had an impact because he's squarely in influential overlapping intellectual networks: Austrian economics, Chicago economics, Federalist Society, Hoover Institution, etc.
Show this thread -
13. More thoughts on Epstein's intellectual network here:https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/epstein-trump-coronavirus-crackpot/ …
Show this thread -
14. Final point: we need a reckoning not just with Epstein but all the institutions that made Epstein possible. They claim to serve the public interest but have helped deranged pseudoscience spread (and not just in this pandemic).
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
Is there a useful term for "know-it-all contrarian"? It feels like the Germans should have something, maybe like Scheißesser.
-
It's called "Klugscheißer".
- Show replies
New conversation -
-
-
It always struck me as odd that just as the Soviets were coming out of their Lamarckist Lysenkoism , Hayek et al picked it up. Is it just Horseshoe politics? Or is Lamarckism just particularly suited to ideologues? Or is there a more direct link ?
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Lamarck also brought up by K Stan Robinson in Mars trilogy by radical colonists: "Evolution is matter of environment and chance.. but history is environment and choice. History is lamarckian! If we choose to establish certain institutions, there they will be!" Neat SF leitmotif..
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Lamarckian evolution always fell flat to me because, to put it bluntly yet delicately, no cis man would ever allow their genitalia to be out of fashion with the preferred sizing if Lamarck's theory was correct.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.