Why We Do Not Compute Divorce Rates Through the Movement of Quarks
The world may well be written in a single source code called quantum mechanics. However, the program called "human society" generated by executing that source code is so vast and intricate that one cannot grasp the program’s purpose by analyzing it line by line. This is precisely where the practical value of social science emerges. Rather than debugging the source code step by step, social science is a discipline that uncovers rules by analyzing the program’s "UI (User Interface)" and "user flow."
Omitting Perception for Efficiency
When we discuss "war" or "economic crises," we do not reference the protein structures of brain cells—not because it is meaningless, but because it is too expansive, turning into pure noise. Social science is a "compressed algorithm" that extracts only the patterns meaningful to human survival and prosperity from the gargantuan dataset that is natural science. If all disciplines were consolidated into natural science, humanity would squander trillions of years of computational time just deciding on a lunch menu.
Layer Independence: Logic Endures Even When Hardware Shifts
Intriguingly, certain laws of social science can endure even if the underlying hardware changes. Even if humanity abandons its carbon-based bodies to become silicon-based robots, the fundamental principles of "economics" will still operate as long as the scarcity of resources persists. In other words, social science deals with the "logic of relationships and structures" that transcends specific biological phenotypes. This is precisely why social science can never be a mere accessory to natural science.
The Optimal Resolution for Handling Phenomena
Ultimately, the answer to the question, "Is everything natural science?" might be "Yes." However, the answer to the question, "Must everything be explained through natural science?" is a definitive "No." We must select the "optimal resolution" most suited to explaining each respective phenomenon. Social science is a wise compromise—a pact to temporarily forget the shape of a single leaf on a single tree in order to clearly perceive the grand forest.
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