Erik Angner Profile picture
Feb 17 6 tweets 1 min read
A thread about why philosophers are so widely disliked and disrespected quickly turned into an occasion to bash economics – a discipline about which philosophers know precious little.

Maybe that’s your answer right there.
Philosophers have the most annoying habit of criticizing things they’ve made no serious effort to understand. Doing so generates zero new insight, and it alienates people from whom they could have learned something new.
Philosophers being jackasses certainly make my life as a philosopher of economics (or philosophical economist) a lot harder than it should have to be.
Here's the thing: economists are every bit as bright as philosophers – maybe brighter – and they've been at it for 250 years straight. If some criticism occurs to you, a philosopher with no economics background, within 5 minutes of reflection, it's *overwhelmingly* likely …
… that it's occurred to the economists too. Their answer may be unsatisfactory to you, but they're *extremely* likely to have dealt with it, likely at length, probably in print, maybe in a three-volume work.
So instead of saying "economists are stupid because they haven't thought of X," try asking "how do you deal with X?" You may learn something in the process – and you're a lot less likely to come across as a jerk too.

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More from @ErikAngner

Feb 16
Monthly excess mortality in Sweden 🇸🇪 and the EU 🇪🇺 2020–21. Data from Eurostat: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache… #Eurostat #COVID19 #Sweden Graph showing monthly exces...
I think the graph illustrates two things, both of which can be true at the same time: (1) Sweden did well in int'l comparison, all things told. (2) The first peak didn't have to be that tall: early, decisive action could have shaved the top off of it.
Relatedly: Sweden, Finland, Denmark all have comparable levels of excess mortality 2020–21. Norway is the sole outlier now.
Read 4 tweets
Dec 7, 2021
One of the most long-standing critiques of Swedish corona policy is that it is, represents, or results from, some kind of national chauvinism. The critique gets it backwards, but it's interesting anyway: it's basically the most Swedish objection ever. /1
The line "Sweden has picked the worst possible time to experiment with national chauvinism" appeared at the very beginning of the pandemic, alongside the new term of art "public-health nationalism," e.g. in this piece. (It's been repeated many times.) /2
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
The basic argument is that (a) Swedish policy results from the premiss that Sweden or Swedes are better and/or more informed than others, and (b) that the premiss is false: it isn't any better, and they aren't any better informed, than anybody else. /3
Read 7 tweets
Dec 4, 2021
This is great: One community increased vaccination rates from 49 to 67 percent simply by having trusted health-care partners call people up and address their concerns in a culturally sensitive way.
dn.se/sverige/vaccin…
When you talk to people, you learn things. For example, many young women in this community believed, falsely, that the vaccine causes infertility. When trusted health-care partners explained that was not true, the women were more likely to get vaccinated.
Now imagine that the community had jumped straight to vaccine mandates instead. These women would have been left with the impression that the government was trying to force them to take a drug that could make them infertile. That would have been very bad!
Read 5 tweets
Nov 19, 2021
Quick English summary: There is no doubt that mandates and monetary rewards can motivate people to get vaccinated. Money in particular is an excellent incentive. But! /1
The benefits risk being temporary. Suppose you offer your teenage kid a tenner to take out the trash. It's pretty likely they will, in fact, take out the trash. That's not the problem. /2
The problem concerns what will happen the next time you ask them to do their chores. There is some danger that they will never again agree to take out the trash unless they're paid to do so. /3
Read 16 tweets
Nov 9, 2021
Conservatives attacking the modern University might wish to reflect on the fact that it has got to be one of the most successful spontaneous orders of all time. /1
It's spontaneous in the sense that although it is the result of human action, it is not the result of human design. It's not as though the current mode of organization was envisioned and intended back when the University was founded in the 12th century. /2
It's successful in the sense that it has spectacular staying power. The University (still going strong at ~900 years of age) is older than the nation state (~400 years), the stock market (~250 years), and the corporation (~200 years). /3
britannica.com/topic/universi…
Read 9 tweets
Sep 21, 2021
My father, Jan Angner, died at age 75 in an offshore sailing incident on August 26. A Twitter memorial. /1 Jan Angner
An experienced sailor, Jan was on his way from Lickershamn (Gotland) to Häradsskär near the mainland, when something went terribly wrong. The boat veered off course, and hit outlying rocks several nautical miles Southwest of where he was headed. It sunk shortly thereafter. /2
The search-and-rescue operation launched the following day was massive. It involved units from Swedish Rescue (Sjöräddningen), the Coast Guard, the Navy, and the Police; multiple airplanes and helicopters; several canine units; and a small flotilla of vessels of various sizes. /3
Read 36 tweets

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