Economic assumptions of atomized action contradict observed social reality

Evidence

The economic stream, on the other hand, flies in the face of empirical reality: persons’ actions are shaped, redirected, constrained by the social context; norms, interpersonal trust, social networks, and social organization are important in the functioning not only of the society but also of the — Coleman, SocialCapitalCreation-1988, 20

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: This framing of the two opposed streams — undersocialized economics vs oversocialized sociology — is the core tension Coleman’s whole social-capital project is built on; it’s the originating contradiction, worth returning to.
• XREF: connects to: Optimal action under ideal assumptions can be useless under real conditions — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 1033; Social outcomes depend on joint causation, making individualist rule-following wrong for policy; A social equilibrium persists when agents lack incentives to change it (+2 more)

Related

• Sociology and economics rest on opposite models of the actor. (similarity 0.83)
• Social outcomes depend on joint causation, making individualist rule-following wrong for policy (similarity 0.81)
• Social capital grafts social structure onto rational-choice theory. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Social outcomes depend on joint causation, making individualist rule-following wrong for policy #expands (0.85)
• Optimal action under ideal assumptions can be useless under real conditions #exemplifies (0.82) — Brian Christian, The Alignment Problem, 1033
• A social equilibrium persists when agents lack incentives to change it #expands (0.78)