by From Ikonoclast When we are dealing with physical phenomena, the fundamental laws of the cosmos are independent of human understanding or modelling of them. No matter what you or I or any human thinks of the Laws of Thermodynamics or even whether we are ignorant of them, the fundamental phenomena follow a course which can be well modeled by those laws when those laws are mathematicized to permit accurate descriptions and empirically verifiable predictions. However, when it comes to socioeconomic phenomena, what we think and believe enter into the constructions and emergent outcomes of socioeconomic phenomena themselves (along with fundamental law effects also entering into the constructions and outcomes). At this level, any theory of the system enters into the system as a compounding
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from Ikonoclast
When we are dealing with physical phenomena, the fundamental laws of the cosmos are independent of human understanding or modelling of them. No matter what you or I or any human thinks of the Laws of Thermodynamics or even whether we are ignorant of them, the fundamental phenomena follow a course which can be well modeled by those laws when those laws are mathematicized to permit accurate descriptions and empirically verifiable predictions. However, when it comes to socioeconomic phenomena, what we think and believe enter into the constructions and emergent outcomes of socioeconomic phenomena themselves (along with fundamental law effects also entering into the constructions and outcomes). At this level, any theory of the system enters into the system as a compounding or complicating element. Thence meta-theory (theory of the impact of theories on the system) will also enter into the system. These theories enter into the system by changing the behaviors of human subjects, not by changing any fundamental laws of course.
It is not possible to mathematicize the above process into fundamental economic laws for the simple reason that most socioeconomic rules are arbitrary and may be changed at any time. Here we must distinguish between rules and laws. Rules are social decisions on how to conduct matters. Hence rules in this sense are any and all of customs, legal laws, accounting rules, finance rules and so on. Rules instituted into systems become algorithms or recipes; lists of ingredients, methods and time orders for doing things. Any of these rules may be made one way or made any other way with the major proviso that rules which contradict fundamental laws are not actionable. Rules which self-contradict are also not actionable unless one rule takes precedence over another rule.
It is not possible to fully mathematicize the changing ground of socioeconomics precisely because the bounds of the problem can be changed by changing the rules of the game (meaning the cooperative-competitive game) of socioeconomic behaviors in praxis. The socioeconomic system which we seek to model continually mutates as we change its rules. Changing the rules happens by any and all of fiat or consensus up to and including gaming, loophole finding, criminality and so on. Also, theories of the system enter into the system as outlined above. Changing the rules sets up new constellations of bodies and interactions (as processes) and annuls other constellations. This statement refers again to the relational system cosmology analogy. This is not just an n-body problem where n is a huge number. It is also an “n-rule” problem where the rules continually mutate in designed and un-designed ways.
The totally new social cosmology Bichler and Nitzan very rightly call for is not predictable nor even envision-able in many ways. Being a new and emergent complex system it will demonstrate radical novelty. Radical novelty in systems emergence theory is not predictable because an explanatory gap, or an epistemological gap, unavoidably exists between the precursor or substrate system and the next radically different system.
Calls to theoretically elucidate (and worse, calls to mathematically delineate) the new system are totally inoperable calls. We cannot predefine it by positive or prescriptive statements. We do not know the right way to go as it is an open-ended problem with an infinite or near-infinite move tree. The problem is as if it were a hyper-complex chess game played on an near infinite board. The analogy of search tree “look ahead” logic is appropriate. In a massively complex open-ended problem, the series of perfect moves leading to perfect or “won” game is incalculable. What are calculable are very bad and indeed dreadful moves which lead to checkmate (human civilizational or species extinction) in a “few moves” meaning in a relatively short time frame.
https://rwer.wordpress.com/2019/05/01/on-the-use-of-logic-and-mathematics-in-economics/#comments