The hottest Social Sciences Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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My Class About Causal Inference

By Reason Alone • 42 implied HN points • 13 Feb 25
🚌 Education Teaching Learning Causal Inference Social Sciences Mathematics
  1. Teaching causal inference helps students understand the relationship between cause and effect in social sciences. It's important to make complex ideas relatable to engage younger audiences.
  2. Using visual aids, like graphs, can enhance understanding of complicated topics, especially in a classroom setting. Students can connect better with the material when it’s presented visually.
  3. Recommended readings and real-world examples, like the draft lottery, can spark curiosity in students. Sharing interesting studies can help them see the relevance of these concepts in everyday life.

Psychology Findings You Can Bank On

Unsafe Science • 54 implied HN points • 24 Dec 24
🔬 Science Psychology Research Social Sciences Empirical Studies Cognitive Science
  1. Psychological research has produced valuable insights that can enhance our understanding of human behavior. It's important to pay attention to these findings.
  2. Some claims made in the social sciences are questionable and need to be critically evaluated. Not everything that is published is reliable.
  3. There's ongoing debate about the quality of psychological studies, so it's good to be skeptical and look for well-supported evidence.

The evolved functions of morality: From the Haidts to the depths.

ideassleepfuriously • 628 implied HN points • 24 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Morality Evolutionary Psychology Altruism Social Sciences
  1. Morality is more than just virtue; it involves judgments of wrongness and desire for punishment.
  2. The explanation for morality may go beyond altruism and virtues, delving into darker aspects.
  3. Understanding moral judgments involves looking at nonconsequentialism, desire for punishment, impartiality, and presence of a victim.

Never mind the quality, feel the speed

imperfect offerings • 239 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
🚌 Education Research AI Data Modeling Social Sciences
  1. The research economy is increasingly focused on speed over quality, especially with the rise of generative AI, which can have negative impacts on reproducibility and diverse fields of knowledge.
  2. Data models in research need to be carefully scrutinized for accuracy and not blindly relied upon, even in specialized areas like protein folding, climate science, or medical diagnostics.
  3. Speed and heuristics shouldn't overshadow the importance of deliberation, qualitative research, and embracing complexity in arriving at meaningful solutions to multidimensional problems.

Disruptive science has declined (might have bigger implications for social sciences)

An Africanist Perspective • 138 implied HN points • 11 Jan 23
🔬 Science Research Papers Social Sciences
  1. Science is publishing more, but the disruptive nature of research papers has decreased, focusing more on incremental progress.
  2. The decline in disruptive science may have significant implications for social sciences, affecting the breadth and depth of new discoveries.
  3. To optimize 'real' discoveries in Africanist social sciences, researchers should embrace diverse research approaches, read and cite more African-based research, write more comprehensive books, and maintain long-term study in specific regions.
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The Wisdom To Choose Action or Inaction

Who is Robert Malone • 14 implied HN points • 04 Nov 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Social Sciences Complex Systems Political theory Human behavior
  1. It's important to understand the difference between complicated systems, like computers, and complex systems, like ecosystems or human societies. Complex systems are unpredictable and can't always be controlled with precise interventions.
  2. When dealing with complex systems, sometimes it's better to wait and observe rather than rush to act. Taking a careful, incremental approach can help prevent unintended consequences.
  3. Censorship and forced social engineering can hinder our ability to adapt and learn from experiences. Encouraging free communication and decentralized thinking is crucial for innovation and growth.

Correlation is not a percentage

inexactscience • 39 implied HN points • 22 Jul 23
🚌 Education Statistical Methods Data interpretation Social Sciences
  1. Correlation does not mean one thing causes another. Just because two things are related doesn't mean one causes the other.
  2. Many people mistakenly think the correlation coefficient is a percentage. This can be misleading and lead to wrong conclusions.
  3. To understand how much one thing explains another, use the coefficient of determination, not the correlation. Squaring the correlation gives you a clearer picture of the relationship.

Techtopia. What it is & Why It’s Important

The Digital Anthropologist • 19 implied HN points • 20 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Society Humanity Artificial Intelligence Social Sciences
  1. The concept of techtopia, a fusion of technology and human sociology, explores the idea of living an ideal life through advanced technologies.
  2. Techtopian thinking can be problematic as it tends to overlook human nature and relies too heavily on technology to solve all problems.
  3. Despite its flaws, exploring techtopia is crucial for understanding the potential risks and benefits of advanced digital technologies and envisioning how human societies can evolve.

Quant Letter: December 2023, Week-2

The Parlour • 12 implied HN points • 13 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Quantitative Blockchain Machine Learning Finance Social Sciences
  1. The ML-Quant website has been revamped and is now free for all users to enjoy the newsletter.
  2. Research papers on SSRN cover various topics like volatility modeling, portfolio asset selection, and sentiment analysis using machine learning.
  3. In the field of quantitative finance, there have been recent advancements in areas such as optimal portfolio selection, volatility forecasting, and financial sentiment analysis.

2x2 games will change your life

Wyclif's Dust • 7 HN points • 24 Feb 24
🚌 Education Game Theory Mathematics Social Sciences Economics Theory
  1. Mathematics can change the way you think by showing how words correspond to underlying structures.
  2. 2x2 games, like the Prisoner's Dilemma, are simple models that offer powerful insights into cooperation, trade, and decision-making.
  3. Understanding game theory, particularly 2x2 games, can help in analyzing real-world scenarios such as economics, politics, and social interactions.

Academia as a Status Game

Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology • 15 implied HN points • 16 Aug 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Academia Research Policing Social Sciences
  1. In academia, citations reflect what the industry values and can lead to grants, tenure, and status.
  2. Research on Black Lives Matter often focuses on promoting radical causes rather than saving lives directly.
  3. There is a need for a major reorientation in social science research to prioritize studies that can save lives, especially in law enforcement.

Book Review: The Sacred Project of American Sociology

Symbolic Capital(ism) • 19 implied HN points • 07 May 20
🚌 Education Sociology Philosophy Academia Higher education Social Sciences
  1. American sociology is a political, sacred, and spiritual project with a specific goal of emancipation, equality, and moral affirmation of individuals.
  2. Sociology's sacred project aims to venerate, protect, and advance a specific Durkheimian sacred regarding human autonomy, equality, and identity.
  3. Sociologists must critically assess and make explicit the sacred mission of American sociology to better understand the discipline's impacts, costs, and tradeoffs on academia and society.

And the Oscar for Economics Goes To... (2/2)

Some Unpleasant Arithmetic • 2 implied HN points • 08 Mar 24
🚌 Education Economics Cultural analysis Gender Studies Social Sciences
  1. Attending elite prep schools like the fictional Barton Academy can significantly impact future success, leading to better chances of admission to prestigious colleges and higher income levels.
  2. Distinctively Black names have always existed in the United States, and research shows that having these names does not necessarily imply disadvantages in the labor market.
  3. Moving to better neighborhoods during childhood can have a positive impact on future outcomes, such as higher education attainment and earnings, particularly if the move occurs at a young age.

Democracy of evidence

Hypertext • 0 implied HN points • 27 Mar 24
🚌 Education Policy Analysis Econometrics Social Sciences Public Policy
  1. Econometrics helps to reveal truths in small-scale matters, but applying them to large societal issues requires many assumptions. Democratizing knowledge generation can be a social game-changer by putting economic tools in the hands of more people.
  2. Academics often focus on big questions about human nature, but the implementation of policies by governmental and social organizations could benefit from more hands-on and practical application of econometric tools to measure the impact of these policies.
  3. Government and social institutions should embrace a more incremental approach, like carpenters, making gradual improvements as opposed to sweeping changes. There's potential for significant social change when institutions start questioning and measuring the effectiveness of their own operations.