G+_George Kozi Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Picking your brains... Mike Elgan Originally shared by George Kozi We can't have it both ways I have heard Sociology referred to as "a load of bollocks". Wikipedia defines it as: Sociology is the academic study of social behaviour, including its origins, development, organization, and institutions. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order, social disorder and social change. To me, that seems a very useful science. When giant corporations like Google, Microsoft, facebook etc, collect and analyze big data sets, in essence, they are doing sociology. And yet, when people hear the word itself, they dismiss it as something laughable. We can't have it both ways. So, what do you think, is sociology a load of bollocks, or the key to understanding trends in society? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Rick Heil Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 My sense is its both. Indeed extremely useful to study and understand but we don't quite have the tools & techniques to study it as empirically as we can other sciences. This is in part because the nature of social is its the complex meta and emergent complexities of people interacting in varying levels of groups. These emergent behaviours are by their nature complex and even ethereal in their nature - like studying fractals, even the slightest change in perspective can generate dramatically different results. Yet because its complex does not make it unworthy of knowing, indeed the opposite is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Valentine Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Rick Heil? wow, spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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