Herbert A. Simon, Biographical (Nobel autobiography, 1978)

Herbert A. Simon · c. 1978

The piece opens with

Schools give little hint until late that human behaviour can be studied scientifically

Their wordsThe idea that human behavior may be studied scientifically is never hinted until much later in the educational process – it was certainly not conveyed by history or “civics” courses as they were then taught.

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Herbert A. Simon did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Schools give little hint until late that human behaviour can be studied scientifically

Their wordsThe idea that human behavior may be studied scientifically is never hinted until much later in the educational process – it was certainly not conveyed by history or “civics” courses as they were then taught.
Our reading
The social sciences need the rigour and mathematical foundations that made the hard sciences successful

Their wordsThe social sciences, I thought, needed the same kind of rigor and the same mathematical underpinnings that had made the “hard” sciences so brilliantly successful.
Our reading
The right way to study human problem-solving is to simulate it with computer programs

Their wordsAbout 1954, he and I conceived the idea that the right way to study problem-solving was to simulate it with computer programs.
Our reading
The social sciences should be hardened, and natural and social scientists should work together on public policy

Their wordsIn the “politics” of science, which these and other activities have entailed, I have had two guiding principles – to work for the “hardening” of the social sciences so that they will be better equipped with the tools they need for their difficult research tasks; and to work for close relations between natural scientists and social scientists so that they can jointly contribute their special knowledge and skills to those many complex questions of public policy that call for both kinds of wisdom.

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