Re: Autism and PAE, some observations about brainwork

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

exactly. The problem with "post-autistic economics" is its name, not
the general idea.

but I disagree with Walt when he says:
> Also, it is not saying that people with autism are not human any more than
> it is saying economists aren't. In equating economists to people with
> autism  it is saying that people with autism write about and study things
> that aren't human.

I think that the link is that while people with autism have a really
hard time dealing with social relations, economists willfully decide
that social relations are irrelevant -- except for exchanges.

On 3/28/06, Walt Byars <wbyars@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think "post autistic" is not a good name, but I don't think your claims
> are correct. That slogan doesn't priviledge verbal arguments over
> mathematical ones or saying mathematics is inherently incapable of
> representing people. It is at best saying that mathematics CAN be used to
> obscure actual people. Certainly, it is an obvious fact that its the
> method of choice that some economists use to obscure people.
>
> Of course, it could obscure with language. Saying "Jane Smith runs a pizza
> parlor and can bake 5 pizzas in an hour and 15 pizzas in 2 hours and 22
> pizzas in three hours but will have to buy another $100 oven if she bakes
> for 4 hours per day" will do just as much obscuring if you find a firm
> called "x" that produces "y" and write a Cobb- Douglas production
> function. The fact is that the preferred method of obscuring at this
> moment happens to be mathematical.
>
> Also, it is not saying that people with autism are not human any more than
> it is saying economists aren't. In equating economists to people with
> autism  it is saying that people with autism write about and study things
> that aren't human. Obviously, this is not a very nice equation regardless
> and it surprises me that someone never stopped to point out to them that
> they shouldn't use that name.
>
> > Greetings Economists,
> >
> > How admirable that students in Madrid write this slogan:
> >
> > "¡La economia es de gente, no de curvas!" – "Economics is about people,
> > not curves!"
> >
> > Doyle,
> >
> > We know they condemn the Orthodox Economics with a math fetish.  I've
> > been over this before because PAE clashes directly with the disabled
> > rights movement perspective on labels like Autism.
> >
> > Ignoring my previous points about this subject, what underlies this
> > label, Autistic, being applied to Economics is a distinction between
> > two kinds of brainwork; language and math.  The slogan above says
> > Economics is about people which equates people or society with
> > 'language'.  Or that's implied by the parallel with math use obscuring
> > public interests as they want us to understand.
> >
> > Let me be just plain here; that's language chauvinism about brainwork
> > to equate people with language.  And advocates of PAE want us to think
> > Autistics (aka math fetish) is not people though it's brainwork.
> >
> > Simple enough.
> >
> > To me this represents a deep confusion about what language does and
> > other human kinds of brainwork that contributes to human culture.
> > Previously Marx wrote about 'work' which if one thinks about it is not
> > that much about 'talk' and quite a bit about using the body
> > (embodiment) to get something done.  The reason being Marx wanted to
> > get to the foundations of things.  If we get stuck seeing language as
> > the foundation of things we miss the broader picture of things that
> > Marx looked at in the economy.
> >
> > So in the way things follow in science PAE is deeply confused about the
> > issue of human embodiment in the work process as Marx might have
> > economically defined work.  I mean in the sense of equating people with
> > language brainwork as the foundation of people or society, and in
> > disembodying 'work' from economics.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Doyle Saylor
>


--
Jim Devine / "There can be no real individual freedom in the presence
of economic insecurity." -- Chester Bowles