physics envy

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English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Noun[edit]

physics envy (uncountable)

  1. (derogatory) The tendency of academics in non-scientific subjects to introduce jargon and mathematics to make their work appear more rigorous.
    • 1997, Michael P. Murphy, Luke A. J. O'Neill, What is Life? The Next Fifty Years, page 31:
      Lack of sufficient pride in our own material (another consequence of reductionism and physics envy) made us more receptive to gurus from elsewhere.
    • 2015, Peter Middleton, Physics Envy: American Poetry and Science in the Cold War and After, page 11:
      By looking hard at traces of physics envy in the social sciences, these poets are able to diagnose the pathologies of race science and urban social theory.
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