Episode 251: Joel Mokyr
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Combining Science and Technology for Growth
Sometime in the 18th century, the world began to grow at much faster rate. Economic Historians have debated the reasons for this Industrial Revolution, but it almost certainly has to do with the growth of technology and a culture of scientific inquiry.
Joel Mokyr is both an economist and a historian. He is also a professor of both Economic and History at Northwestern University. In addition, Joel has authored several books on history and the economy over the years. His latest book, A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy, is about how science and technology evolved in ways that reinforced each other.
Joel and Greg discuss the connections between the industrial and scientific revolutions and between scientific discovery and technological adaptation. They discuss the decline of the guilds in England and the subsequent diffusion of English artisans and mechanics accross Europe They also discuss Darwin not being a darwinian, and how Caldwell’ss law leads to the decline in growth.
Episode Quotes:
Apprenticeship in Britain
42:07: Engineers, mechanics, chemists, and technicians of any kind, whether they're carpenters, blacksmiths, or millwrights, are not produced in schools. They are not produced in universities. They're produced by other artisans through personal contact, which is called apprenticeship, and apprenticeship is all over the world. This is how people were trained, and what happens in Britain is, for historical reasons, apprenticeship worked much better than anywhere else.
What makes the study of society complicated?
28:15: The study of society is infinitely more complex and difficult because we humans are damn complicated creatures, and our minds have some level of complexity that defies anything that the quantum theorist can think about. So, in principle, we can, and we've made some progress in understanding certain things about society. Where it gets difficult is utilizing that kind of knowledge.
Our power over natures keeps on increasing but our wisdom in handling that power is not
26:30: There's something we can learn from the evolutionary people, which is yes, there is progress in certain dimensions and not others. And part of the problem is that these dynamics are not in sync with one another. And that creates these equilibria. It creates all kinds of trouble. And that is, to some extent, the great dilemma of the modern age: power over nature keeps increasing, but our wisdom and benevolence in handling that power is not.
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