Economic Folly As Science

Once upon a time there were a lot of people, probably billions, who did a wide range of experiments, and slowly advanced our knowledge. But someone decided that they rather liked one sort of experiment more than others. Since this someone had access to more guns and money than anyone else, he used incentives and coercion to encourage this experiment. The older, the stubborn, and those who basically refused either died off or had to go find something else to do. The dishonest happily accepted the new situation and experimented away. Eventually there were only a few people left doing experiments. They were now called scientists and that someone with guns and money had requirements you had to meet before you could become one. Younger scientists didn't even know there were different experiments that could be done anymore.

Unfortunately, one experiment, with an extremely limited range of acceptable results, leaves the scientists wide open to a lot of risk. More and more scientists were losing out to the risk. Eventually the scientists just couldn't do experiments anymore.

So, that someone with guns and money came in and took over.

The possibility that a right answer will be found is now astronomically lower than what it was before we started. When people are allowed to be free, they find their own answers. Often they'll even find the answers you need. But, if one person takes over, he is always and consistently wrong about ten thousand things, even if he's right about the one big bright and shiny thing that is bugging you right now.