[rossdavidh]

Ouch.

I think one way to think of this is, does a given field have any tools that, even if you disagreed with their values, you would still want access to? People who don't like the idea of natural selection, still want doctors to take into account the phenomenon of antibiotic-resistant infections in their treatment. People who dislike the values of the software industry, often still want access to computers to publish their essays, surf the internet, etc. People who dislike the analytic, anti-holistic orientation of the physical sciences, still want access to the technology made using that.

What is there in the social sciences that you would want access to, even if you did not share their values? I think we may live to see a day when there is something, but I'm not sure that right now there is (yet).

[xapata]

You don't like cost-benefit analysis? Or city planning?

I suspect some topics which you might think are just "common sense" come from intensive research.

[rossdavidh]

I could believe that intensive research can be useful, but from the cases I have seen of cost-benefit analysis or city planning actually being used, no I don't like those. Cost-benefit analysis (as actually used by business) seems to leave out any strategic advantage that cannot be quantified, and city planning (as actually practiced by cities) seems to be responsible for a lot of what went wrong in the last half of the 20th century in America's cities.

Of course, it could well be that the tools of social scientists were being mishandled by amatuers; I could pretty easily believe that. But as examples, those two both look to me to be net negatives.

[xapata]

> leave out any strategic advantage that cannot be quantified

Everything can be quantified, no matter how intangible. Perhaps you're not familiar with the research.

> city planning (as actually practiced by cities)

On the whole, city governments ignore city planning researchers.

What's your academic background? If you've never studied social sciences, you may not be aware of what the scientists are saying.

[xapata]

I've thought of one social technology I'd really like: a Pigovian tax to reduce pollution, especially greenhouse gasses.