Every culture, or subculture, is defined by a set of common values, that is, generally agreed upon preferences. Without a core of common values a cul… - Kenneth E. Boulding

The concept of a value-free science is absurd.

Economists and technologists bring the "bits", but it requires the social scientists and humanists to bring the "wits."

One demand for a concept of need arises because the concept of demand itself has serious weaknesses and limitations. It assumes away, for instance, a serious epistemological problem. The very idea of autonomous choice implies first that the chooser knows the real alternatives which are open to him, and second that he makes the choice according to value criteria or a utility function which he will not later regret. Both the image of the field of choice and the utility function have a learning problem which, by and large, economists have neglected. This problem is particularly acute in the case of medical care, where the demander is usually a layman faced with professional suppliers who know very much more than he does. The demand for medical care, indeed, is primarily a demand for knowledge or at least the results of knowledge...