"Devine, James" wrote:
>
>
> this fits with my sense that economists embrace math so fervently partly
> because it provides a basis for Mandarinism. (Mandarinism refers to the
> pre-20th century practice of requiring would-be Chinese state bureaucrats to
> take examinations in stuff like calligraphy that had nothing at all to do
> with their ability to rule.)
In an article he wrote many years ago Andre Gorz reports visiting one of
the more exclusive technological academies in France. He asked someone,
what do you teach here that couldn't be learned on the job in the
factory. The reply, calculus. Next question, will they need calculus to
do the work? No.
So this practice can not only be used to filter out a ruling elite
(China) or an elite band of lackeys (economics) but to create
pseudo-elites within the working class. And since the economists can be
divided into (a) those at the elite universities, thinktanks, corp
staffs, etc) and (b) those at all the non-elite schools, we find that
economist training both recruits elite lackeys and divides the working
class.
Carrol
