Monday, January 24, 2005

when social science is pseudo-science So, according to social scientist Cliff Arnall of Cardiff University (UK), January 24 is "gloomiest day of the year," a conclusion he has arrived at by means of a mathematical formula that accounts for everything from the weather (guess what, it's usually dark and rainy, at least in England) to the amount of credit card debt we have accumulated (you mean it's at a peak after Christams? You don't say!). Of course Arnall is (sort of) right: January may be one of the most depressing months of the year (in the northern emisphere), because of the cold, short days, financial outlook, etc. of most people. That is just common sense, part of everyone's experience. But to pinpoint a specific day as the gloomiest is just silly: no amount of (not too fancy, really) mathematics can yield that precise of a measurement of the human condition; there will always be a range because human beings are complex, and so are the many factors that influence our lives and moodes. That is not to say, of course, that one cannot do good science while studying societal behavior, but I'm afraid Arnall is way off the mark on this one. 7:53:47 AM    comment []