Nothing fails like success because we don't learn from it. We learn only from failure.
Kenneth E. BouldingRead
Mathematics brought rigor to Economics. Unfortunately, it also brought mortis.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mathematics adds precision to economics, but it can also lead to a lifeless and overly rigid approach.
In this quote, Kenneth E. Boulding highlights the dual role of mathematics in economics. While it enhances the discipline by introducing rigor and structure, it can also result in a mechanical application of theories that strips economics of its more humanistic and dynamic aspects, rendering it somewhat lifeless or 'dead' in practical application.
Themes
MathematicsEconomicsRigorLifeHumanism
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the intersection of math and economics, one might say, 'As Boulding aptly put it, mathematics can bring rigor to economics but beware of the mortis it might bring.'
More from Kenneth E. Boulding
All quotes βAs long as man was small in numbers and limited in technology, he could realistically regard the earth as an infinite reservoir, an infinite source of inputs and an infinite cesspool for outputs. Today we can no longer make this assumption. Earth has become a space ship, not only in our imagination but also in the hard realities of the social, biological, and physical system in which man is enmeshed.
Kenneth E. BouldingRead
Economics has been incurably growth-oriented and addicted to everybody growing richer, even at the cost of exhaustion of resources and pollution of the environment.
Kenneth E. BouldingRead
Are we to regard the world of nature simply as a storehouse to be robbed for the immediate benefit of man? ... Does man have any responsibility for the preservation of a decent balance in nature, for the preservation of rare species, or even for the indefinite continuance of his race?
Kenneth E. BouldingRead
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