My musical discovery of the last two years is the punk rock band Bad Religion. Thirteen CDs, all full of great songs – try Supersonic, Suffer, and the music videos for Los Angeles is Burning and Atomic Garden. More amazing than the music, however, is the fact that the lead singer, Greg Graffin, just finished his dissertation at Cornell.
A rule of thumb is that Ph.D. candidates who work full-time rarely finish. Graffin tours the world, but still managed to complete a thought-provoking dissertation on how biologists reconcile evolutionary theory and their broader worldview. A few striking results:
What does this have to do with economics? Graffin has documented yet another interesting set of systematic belief differences between laymen and experts. (Well, technically he only has data on the experts, but we know roughly what laymen would say). When economists and the public systematically disagree, a lot of people are eager to impugn the economists’ objectivity. How would the same people react to Graffin’s results?
But actually, given Graffin’s apparently strident leftism, I’m a lot more curious about how he’d react to my results.
READER COMMENTS
Joseph Hertzlinger
Aug 10 2005 at 7:54pm
This appears to be a sample of members of just one type of organization (National Academies of Science).
In any case, I suspect the views of astronomers may be more relevant.
Mcwop
Aug 11 2005 at 7:20am
Wow! Bryan likes Bad Religion. As an old punker myself, I am impressed.
Timothy
Aug 11 2005 at 10:01am
You might also want to check out Minor Threat. I believe that was Graffin’s band before Bad Religion. He also put out a solo album called “American Lesion” that’s pretty great.
Josh
Aug 11 2005 at 10:27am
If you have not already, please pick up a copy of 80-85. That is by far the best BR CD out there.
mcwop
Aug 11 2005 at 10:53am
Timothy, Brian Baker (Bad Rel guitarist) is the former Minor Threat (fantastic band) member, rather than Graffin. And Greg Hetson (another Bad Rel Guitarist) played with the Circle Jerks, which is another punk great that pre-dates BR.
Timothy
Aug 11 2005 at 11:29am
mcwop: Thanks for the punk rock heads up, Circle Jerks is also a great band. Although punk isn’t really my favorite genre, there’s some great stuff out there.
captain mike
Aug 11 2005 at 4:28pm
I have never taken the time to really pick apart Graffin’s stance on any issues, but his strident leftism is definitely apparent. The only thing that has puzzled me is his constant refutation in his lyrics and essays of “group mentality.” I wonder how this relates to his feelings on collectivism.
I guess there is a difference between individuality and individualism. I tend to find that punkers preach that one should not conform to others, and maintain your individuality, but they also fall on the collectivist side of the political spectrum.
Catherine Johnson
Aug 12 2005 at 7:59am
Hi–I wrote two posts about your paper at Kitchen Table Math. If you have time to fact-check, I’ll make any changes you advise.
Terrifically interesting material……
TFox
Aug 12 2005 at 4:54pm
Some years ago I ran across a study of the theological beliefs of scientists, published in Nature. Particularly interesting was that an essentially identical survey had been done about a hundred years earlier, allowing comparisons of changes in beliefs over the past century. The scientific discipline _least_ likely to express a belief in God was biology. The discipline _most_ likely to believe was physics. The numbers had fallen, over the years, but not by very much. Interesting data. (Nature 394: 313 1998)
Mr. Econotarian
Aug 15 2005 at 4:42pm
Minor Threat rocked!
-ex punk, amateur economist
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