Hard on Soft Science: Difference between revisions

 

Not related to [[I Thought It Meant|erections in any way]]. Well [[Author Appeal|almost]].

 

<!-- %%comment%% Actual science only. We're talking physics vs. sociology, that sort of thing. Alternative medicine, for example, has no place here, because regardless of whether or not it works, it's not generally located/tested scientifically. -->

** For an MD and a Scientist, Crichton spent an awful lot of time writing [[Science Is Bad|against type.]] e.g. [[Jurassic Park]].

* Shows up repeatedly in the works of [[Greg Egan]]; most notably in [[Schilds Ladder|Schild's Ladder]]

** One minor character is an eminent chemist. He has a brief conversation with the (currently bamboozled) sociologist protagonist: Sociologist: "I can quite understand that it [the villains' scheme] doesn't fit in with your work as it does with sciences like Sociology, but--" Chemist: "There are no sciences like Sociology." The chemist is then murdered by the villains, the sociologist framed for the murder, and blackmailed into running propaganda for them. Lewis's objection to sociology (within the book, at least) was that it, like the other soft sciences, invites the scientist to treat people as specimens, without compassion. His chemist says, "I happen to believe that you can't study men; you can only get to know them, which is quite a different thing."

* Averted with [[Isaac Asimov]]'s [[Foundation]] series. Hari Seldon is (posthumously) considered to be one of the most brilliant scientists in the history of the Galaxy, and his work in psychohistory is considered not only seminal but absolutely necessary for the survival of civilization. While psychohistory is presented as a mathematical science, it is still considered to be a branch of psychology, a "soft" science.

* ''[[Xkcd (Webcomic)|Xkcd]]'', [http://xkcd.com/451/ here], as well as [http://xkcd.com/435/ here]. [[Rule of Three|And finally]], the [[Alt Text]] [http://xkcd.com/764/ here]. (Social scientists tend to share Munroe's view of literary criticism.)

** Some of these are more serious than others. The one against anthropologists was intended to be in jest, but came across harsher than Munroe intended; the following day, he [[Incredibly Lame Pun|anthropologized]].

* ''[[Skin Horse]]'', [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=33564#strip5 here].

* Heartily mocked [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20050924.html in the commentary of] one ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'' strip.

[[Category:Insult Tropes]]

[[Category:Hard On Soft Science]]