disdain

post-pythagorean economics

in june of 2000, a group fo 15 sorbonne economics students launched a petition protesting that neoclassical economics - the dominant version taught and practiced today - is highly dogmatic, obessed with imaginary worlds, and treats mathematical formalization and logic as ends in themselves. furthermore, its emphasis on the growth of abstract measures like gross domestic product was a threat to the planet. "we no longer want to have this autistic science imposed on us," the cried. they called for an economics with less emphasis on mathematics, more plurality, and a return to the human side of the subject. an economics that makes room for ethics, feminism, and ecology - all of which had been excluded by the neoclassical approach. an economics that consideres the rights of future generations (for when it comes to resources like oil or clean air, the neoclassical "invisible hand" sometimes seems to be less about allocating them efficiently, than simply depleting them as quickly as possible).
because poeple with autism spectrum disorders generally show more interest in objects than people, and are sometimes very good at mathematics and abstract thinking, the students dubbed their new economics "post-autistic." but another way of looking at it is to say that neoclassicl economics is pythagorean.
pythagoras was born around 570 bc. the son of a gem-engraver, he spent his youth travelling to egypt, syria, and babylon, where he immersed himself in the mystical teachings of the east. at the age of about 40, he established his own quasi-religious cult in crotona, southern italy. his teachings attracted hundreds of followers, some of whom suffered severe privations - including a five-year vow of silence - to become a part of his inner circle, known as the mathematikoi.
the cult's philosophy was based on reason and number. to the pythagoreans, number was all. each number had a special, almost magical meaning. the monad, unity, represented the original unity from which the universe was created, and was associated with devine intelligence. the dyad, two, represented the division of this unity into duality. (the even numbers, which contained the number two, were therefore seen as representing weakness and mutability.) Three represented all things with a beginning, middle and end; four represented completion, like the four seasons.
the most perfect number was the decad, ten. the sum of one, two, three and four, it represented the totality of forces that make up the universe. in refrence to the decad, the pythagoreans compiled a list of ten opposing principles, wich devided phenomena into two classes:
GOOD EVIL
LIMITED UNLIMITED
ODD EVEN
ONE PLURALITY
RIGHT LEFT
MALE FEMALE
AT REST IN MOTION
STRAIGHT CROOKED
LIGHT DARKNESS
SQUARE OBLONG
by aligning themsleves with those qualities in the first column, the pythagoreans believed they could achieve purity, and become closer to the gods.
the reasons why they chose these ten pairs has puzzled scholars from aristotle on, but some can be guessed at. for example, in pythagoras' philosophy, the universe consisted of two components: the limited, which signified order, and the unlimited, which represented chaos and plurality. the former was associated with the dyad and even numbers. his biographer iamlichus wrote, "the right hand he called the principle of the odd number and is divine, but the left hand is the symbol of the even number and of that which is dissolved." the right hand is controlled by the left side of the brain, which we now associate with linear, logical reasoning of the sort championed by the pythagoreans. this preference for the right hand has passed on through language - sinister is from the latin for left hand.
so what does all this ancient, mystical stuff have to do with the hard, cold logic of neoclassical economics, which views humanity as a mere aggregate of rational, self-interested actors? he model for economists has long been newtonian, mechanistic physics, which in turn is explicitly based on phythagorean thought. so this list of pairs is like two complimentary strands of the dna of economics. consider that neoclassical economis: *is based on the idea of scarcity, and emphasizes limited resources like oil at the expense of unlimited resources like wind. *rejects uncertainty and duality (symbolized to the pythagoreans by evenness). *is based on the primacy of the individual (one) over society (plurality). *values right-handed logic, ignoring emotion and left-handed thought. *is based on a male paradigm that undervalues things like childcare. *sees the economy as a static system, maintained at rest by the invisible hand of capitalism. *uses a simplistic, linear (straight) approach to model comples, nonlinear (crooked) phenomena. *attempts to shine the light of reason and observation over the economy, rejecting the indeterminacy (darkness) of human systems. *reduces complex and often strongly biased social and political systems to the simple symmetry (squareness) of mathematics.
neoclassical economists are pythagoreans. they still think that number is all. and they are still trying to find good and attain utopia by aligning themselves with the first column from this ancient list.
how will we weaken pythagoras' 2500 year-old hold on our minds (and our wallets)? how can we overcome the left/right, good/evil divide, which has helped separate us not only form each other, but from the natural world? since the 1960s, a number of new sciences have emerged that directly challenge he pythagorean paradigm. fuzzy logic, fractals, network theory, and nonlinear dynamics deal with systems that are indeterminate, crooked, plural, and in motion. Feminists and ecologists have also pointed out the defects in the neoclassical system. as economists incorporate these voices and developments, we will come nearer to an economics that is not just post-autistic, but post-pythagorean. it may be just what the world needs.


that being said: i need to get laid!