The practical reason for decompartmentalisation, despite its dangers, is that science works and is effective.
But science itself is extremely compartmentalized! Try getting economists and psychologists to agree on anything, and both have pretty good results, most of the time.
Even microeconomics and macroeconomics make far better predictions when they’re separate, and repeated attempt at bringing them together consistently result in a disaster.
Don’t imagine that compartmentalization sets up impenetrable barriers once and for all—there’s a lot of cautious exchange between nearby compartments, and their boundaries keep changing all the time. I quite like the “compartments as scientific disciplines” image. You have a lot of highly fuzzy boundaries—like for example computer science to math to theoretical physics to quantum chemistry to biochemistry to medicine. But when you’re sick you don’t ask on programming reddit for advice.
The best way to describe a territory is to use multiple kinds of maps.
I don’t think anything you’ve said and anything I said actually contradict.
Try getting economists and psychologists to agree on anything, and both have pretty good results, most of the time.
What are the examples you’re thinking of, where both are right and said answers contradict, and said contradiction is not resolvable even in principle?
But science itself is extremely compartmentalized! Try getting economists and psychologists to agree on anything, and both have pretty good results, most of the time.
Even microeconomics and macroeconomics make far better predictions when they’re separate, and repeated attempt at bringing them together consistently result in a disaster.
Don’t imagine that compartmentalization sets up impenetrable barriers once and for all—there’s a lot of cautious exchange between nearby compartments, and their boundaries keep changing all the time. I quite like the “compartments as scientific disciplines” image. You have a lot of highly fuzzy boundaries—like for example computer science to math to theoretical physics to quantum chemistry to biochemistry to medicine. But when you’re sick you don’t ask on programming reddit for advice.
The best way to describe a territory is to use multiple kinds of maps.
I don’t think anything you’ve said and anything I said actually contradict.
What are the examples you’re thinking of, where both are right and said answers contradict, and said contradiction is not resolvable even in principle?