Math as Myth

This might be the best introduction to an academic paper I’ve come across. From Roger Myerson’s Fundamentals of Social Choice Theory:

Mathematical models in social science are like fables or myths that we read to get insights into the social world in which we live.  Our mathematical models are told in a specialized technical language that allows very precise descriptions of the motivations and choices of the various individuals in these stories.  When we prove theorems in mathematical social science, we are making general statements about whole classes of such stories all at once.

Date: August 10, 2017

Tags: DulyNoted