1/A thread about something I like to call the Galileo Complex.
You'll sometimes see claims that a certain school of thought is being banned from academia due to political reasons -- that there are heterodox rebels who have uncovered dangerous truths and are being hushed up.
You'll sometimes see claims that a certain school of thought is being banned from academia due to political reasons -- that there are heterodox rebels who have uncovered dangerous truths and are being hushed up.
2/Everyone knows the famous example of Galileo discovering the true shape of the Solar System, and being hushed up by the Church.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_a…
How many more Galileos are out there, being hushed up by the modern-day Church of Academia? Etc. etc.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_a…
How many more Galileos are out there, being hushed up by the modern-day Church of Academia? Etc. etc.
3/One big example of this is in the field of behavioral genetics. A lot of right-leaning bloggers and amateur enthusiasts, and even a couple of biologists, will tell you that research into the effect of genes on human behavior is being hushed up out of fear that it's racist.
4/Now, as an outsider who doesn't know either the science OR the institutional politics, it's very hard to evaluate such claims.
If we hear an academic say "No, that stuff isn't being hushed up, but lots of bad science in that area is being ignored"...do we believe that?
If we hear an academic say "No, that stuff isn't being hushed up, but lots of bad science in that area is being ignored"...do we believe that?
5/Even if an academic says "Nonsense, look, someone from this school of thought published this paper and is tenured at this university", is that proof there's no Galileo-like censorship at work? What if the iconoclasts could only publish 1 paper when it should have been 100? Etc.
6/Obviously, academia has a "who will guard the guardians" thing going on, since the only people with the specialized domain knowledge to evaluate whether an institution has been captured are typically people who would have been captured along with the institution.
7/And here's the thing.
It is very fun to imagine that you're Galileo.
And you can often get lots of clicks and followers by claiming you're Galileo.
Cosplaying as Galileo strokes one's ego and advances one's political goals.
So we should be suspicious when people do this.
It is very fun to imagine that you're Galileo.
And you can often get lots of clicks and followers by claiming you're Galileo.
Cosplaying as Galileo strokes one's ego and advances one's political goals.
So we should be suspicious when people do this.
8/In economics, I actually have a rough idea of when Galileo Complexes represent something real and when they represent grandstanding.
For example, a lot of "heterodox macroeconomists" claim that their views are being systematically excluded from academia...
For example, a lot of "heterodox macroeconomists" claim that their views are being systematically excluded from academia...
9/A fair amount of "heterodox macro" was just warmed-over Hyman Minsky or Abba Lerner, plus a few original errors thrown in.
Mainstream macroeconomists rightfully ignored this, while formalizing the old ideas of Minsky, Lerner, etc. into modern math models.
Mainstream macroeconomists rightfully ignored this, while formalizing the old ideas of Minsky, Lerner, etc. into modern math models.
10/(Now, modern macro math modeling has plenty of problems, and those insights may have lost something in the translation to math, but that's a story for another day.)
11/Some self-identified heterodox people did good empirical work, and instantly got plenty of attention from mainstream folks. But the wacky theorists who claimed to be Galileo while actually just spouting wordy nonsense were rightfully and politely ignored...
12/Another example from economics is the case of the inequality researchers - Piketty, Saez, and Zucman.
Bernie Sanders' economic advisor, Warren Gunnels, alleged a plutocratic conspiracy within academia to exclude these researchers' insights.
Bernie Sanders' economic advisor, Warren Gunnels, alleged a plutocratic conspiracy within academia to exclude these researchers' insights.
13/This idea didn't originate with Gunnels. Piketty himself, at the AEA Meeting, memorably responded to criticism from Greg Mankiw by saying that rich people "consume academics".
tompepinsky.com/2015/01/06/pik…
tompepinsky.com/2015/01/06/pik…
14/Gunnels provoked a backlash from some academic economists who didn't like being characerized as corrupt. This led some to claim that there was a Galileo-type persecution going on in econ, targeting those who dared to expose the truth about inequality.
15/Outsiders to the econ profession, observing this dispute, have good reason to wonder whether the would-be Galileos are true Galileos.
16/Now, are the allegations true? Are Piketty, Saez, and Zucman being persecuted? How can an outsider tell?
Well, Piketty is employed at the highly prestigious London School of Economics, and Saez is a prof at Berkeley. Not exactly excluded from the halls of academic prestige...
Well, Piketty is employed at the highly prestigious London School of Economics, and Saez is a prof at Berkeley. Not exactly excluded from the halls of academic prestige...
17/There are allegations that Harvard administrators denied Zucman tenure there, due to prejudice against his research.
So perhaps that is a Galileo-like event!
nytimes.com/2020/02/21/us/…
So perhaps that is a Galileo-like event!
nytimes.com/2020/02/21/us/…
18/As for the actual research of Piketty, Saez, and Zucman, it is WIDELY cited within academia, including by scholars who disagree with their conclusions. Far from shutting it out, academia has rewarded this research with copious citations, publications, and seminar appearances.
19/Given how Piketty, Saez, and Zucman's work is generally regarded within academia as the gold standard for inequality research, it seems crazy to paint them as modern-day Galileos who uncovered dangerous truths and are being hushed up by the establishment.
20/So while there may be isolated instances of conservative figures using institutional power to attack inequality research (i.e. the Harvard allegation), overall the Galileo Complex that some Twitter people have developed on behalf of PSZ is pretty obviously overblown.
21/Thus, the two examples of Galileo Complexes that I have observed in the econ field were either completely ridiculous or very overblown.
Thus, I am wary of Galileo Complexes in other fields, like behavioral genetics.
Thus, I am wary of Galileo Complexes in other fields, like behavioral genetics.
22/And you, dear reader, should be wary of these claims as well! Calling oneself Galileo and academia the Church is just too damn easy a thing to do. Easy, appealing, fun, and seductive. There is occasionally a real Galileo out there, but most are opportunistic cosplayers.
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