Why the close connection between art and economics?
A fundamental claim that led to founding the institute was that the true drivers of economic outcomes are metaphysical phenomena, such as feelings and inner human compulsions.
Humanity Economics is founded on the idea that science alone cannot analyze these metaphysical phenomena of the human experience, and that instead, art and aesthetics (referring to the branch of philosophy) compose a superior toolset for this endeavor.
This is based on the premise that science requires empirical evidence being observed and tested across a scientific community. While we can observe economic outcomes through the guild of accounting, we cannot look directly at someone's metaphysical experience to measure things like how much someone wants something, or the degree of fear someone has of a risk manifesting.
However, every individual can observe his/her own metaphysical experience. The challenge in understanding this as a collective in humanity is for individuals to find the words and/or metaphors to articulate this. This again is where the arts are a very strong tool for learning.
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