[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

"Trying to reduce human beings into " building blocks" is silly."

I agree (unless they're frozen solid, of course :-) ).

I was referring to the building-blocks of the model. "Economic man" simply refers to the assumption that, on average, people tend to make rational decisions about what's in their best interest. There are all sorts of "on the other hands" -- like imperfect information.

Economics is probably the "hardest" of the "social sciences". It is really applied systems theory -- always has been. Today, the mathematical modeling is as complex as anything in, say, structural engineering. The other social sciences tend to attract touchy-feely mathphobes -- economics (at least econometrics) attracts mathematicians.

[A. Pole]

"Economic man" simply refers to the assumption that, on average, people tend to make rational decisions about what's in their best interest.

And this is a nonsense. What is "rational" (those pseudo scientists are not rational or even smart for sure!), what is the "best interest", what is "decision" making etc ... It is all hopeless crap.