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Topic: Economics of love/marriage/sex (Read 15156 times) |
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Benny
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Re: Economics of dating/love/marriage/sex
« Reply #75 on: Jul 18th, 2009, 10:12am » |
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Thanks for mentioning Bateman's research.
I did a quick search on the net and found the following article on ScienceDaily:
A new study challenges long-standing expectations that men are promiscuous and women tend to be more particular when it comes to choosing a mate. The research suggests that human mating strategies are not likely to conform to a single universal pattern and provides important insights that may impact future investigations of human mating behaviors.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090424122618.htm
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If we want to understand our world — or how to change it — we must first understand the rational choices that shape it.
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towr
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Re: Economics of dating/love/marriage/sex
« Reply #76 on: Jul 18th, 2009, 1:14pm » |
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on Jul 18th, 2009, 10:12am, BenVitale wrote:| A new study challenges long-standing expectations that men are promiscuous and women tend to be more particular when it comes to choosing a mate. The research suggests that human mating strategies are not likely to conform to a single universal pattern and provides important insights that may impact future investigations of human mating behaviors. |
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Euhm, yeah, that study they speak of is the article I just linked to.. It even uses practically the same words in the abstract.
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| « Last Edit: Jul 18th, 2009, 1:14pm by towr » |
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Grimbal
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Re: Economics of dating/love/marriage/sex
« Reply #77 on: Jul 18th, 2009, 2:03pm » |
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on Jul 18th, 2009, 2:53am, towr wrote:
It makes me think: the good thing with natural selection is that when women complain that men are ... well ... men and behave the way they do, we can justify it by noting that we are only like our fathers, which are the men to whom women decided to make children. So if we are what we are, in the end, it is the women's fault.
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| « Last Edit: Jul 18th, 2009, 2:13pm by Grimbal » |
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towr
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Re: Economics of dating/love/marriage/sex
« Reply #78 on: Jul 18th, 2009, 2:11pm » |
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on Jul 18th, 2009, 2:03pm, Grimbal wrote:So if we are what we are, in the end, it is the woman's fault.
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Perhaps, but they'll still complain. And likely even moreso if you try to use this as an excuse. 
(And of course, it's our forefather's fault for settling for women prone to complaining. Oooh)
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pex
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Re: Economics of dating/love/marriage/sex
« Reply #79 on: Jul 18th, 2009, 2:18pm » |
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on Jul 18th, 2009, 2:11pm, towr wrote:| (And of course, it's our forefather's fault for settling for women prone to complaining. |
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Well, it was their foremothers' fault to fall for men who'd settle for women prone to complaining.
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Benny
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Re: Economics of dating/love/marriage/sex
« Reply #80 on: Jul 18th, 2009, 2:36pm » |
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Tim Harford is an economist ... and his book is disappointing.
His book is a pop economics book.
What can we say about pop economics books?
Pop economics books are clearly good for those who write them; it is less clear that they are a
plus for the discipline ... maybe somebody will write a paper on the value of "pop economics books."
Tim Harford looks at a range of phenomena -— voter apathy, teenage oral sex, skyrocketing
CEO pay, high divorce rates, workplace discrimination, racial segregation—and argues that all reflect responses to incentives. He makes a bold claim: “People are motivated by all kinds of normal human emotions . . . but our responses to them are rational.”
Harford is upbeat and appealing, and an easy read. But in the end, his efforts to support such a sweeping thesis rest on one-sided, questionable interpretations that seriously undermine the integrity of his work.
The book is at its best when he's explaining how systemic biases can create large shifts in human behavior. For instance, a slight preference for having neighbors who are like oneself can lead to quite substantial segregation along race, religion, education, and economic lines.
He claims that he found that abortions may have contributed to lowering crime. So did Steven Levitt, an economist and author of "Freakonomics"
However the abortion-cut-crime theory did not come to meeting the burden of proof, much of America's intellectual elite fell head over heels for this theory.
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The theory: Unwanted children are more likely to become troubled adolescents, prone to crime and drug use, than are wanted children. When abortion was legalized in the 1970s, a whole generation of unwanted births were averted, leading to a drop in crime nearly two decades later when this phantom generation would have come of age.
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http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113314261192407815-HLjarwtM95Erz4 5QPP0pDWul8rc_20061127.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
Harford seems to argue beyond the limits of his evidence.
When he moves beyond being an observer into someone trying to convince you what people
are like, I found he was often offensive.
I found weird ... and insensitive when Tim Harford writes about how those who aren't native to Africa "solved" the problem of dying from malaria by transferring slaves from Africa to milder climates.
How weird is that!?
To Mr. Harford's eye, we are so much creatures of economics, comfort, and the pursuit of gain that there's no role for any other human motives.
I can see why many will dislike him, and will get turned off
That is a too limited view of people
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towr
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Re: Economics of dating/love/marriage/sex
« Reply #81 on: Jul 19th, 2009, 3:36am » |
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on Jul 18th, 2009, 2:36pm, BenVitale wrote:What can we say about pop economics books?
Pop economics books are clearly good for those who write them; it is less clear that they are a plus for the discipline ... maybe somebody will write a paper on the value of "pop economics books." |
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The same is true for many popular science books. Especially in the social (and related) sciences, because the facts are simply less clear there.
And in general, the problem with books is that they're not subject to peer review in the way that articles are. If a peer does rip the book to shreds in a review, it won't affect its publication or, most likely, sales. And of course economics calls for books that sell, not books that are accurate 
Quote:| I found weird ... and insensitive when Tim Harford writes about how those who aren't native to Africa "solved" the problem of dying from malaria by transferring slaves from Africa to milder climates. |
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Considering the fact that the area in which malaria was prevalent was much larger in past centuries than it is now, it doesn't even make any sense.
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Benny
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Re: Economics of dating/love/marriage/sex
« Reply #82 on: Jul 23rd, 2009, 3:51pm » |
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Here's a controversial question :
Are women better off 'downsizing' their ambitions and marrying for money?
Please read the following article
Share your thoughts
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If we want to understand our world — or how to change it — we must first understand the rational choices that shape it.
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