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Quote by Thomas Sowell

“Implicit in the activist conception of government is the assumption that you can take the good things in a complex system for granted, and just improve the things that are not so good. What is lacking in this conception is any sense that a society, an institution, or even a single human being, is an intricate system of fragile inter-relationships, whose complexities are little understood and easily destabilized.”

Book:Is Reality Optional?: And Other Essays

Work

Is Reality Optional?: And Other Essays

This book is a compilation of essays that delve into profound philosophical and existential inquiries, offering readers diverse perspectives on the nature of reality and human existence. more

Author

Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is a renowned economist, born on June 30, 1930. His research spans across various fields such as economic policy, race, and social issues, having a profound impact on economics and the social sciences. more

“The most basic inherent constraint is that neither time nor wisdom are free goods available in unlimited quantity. This means that in social processes, as in economic processes, it is not only impossible to attain perfection but irrational to seek perfection- or even to seek the best possible result in each separate instance.”

Mean Social Process Results Impossible Economic Perfection Available Instance Goods Quantity Inherent Irrational Unlimited Constraints

Author:Thomas Sowell

“Ideas are everywhere, but knowledge is rare.”

Ideas

Book:Knowledge And Decisions

Source: Knowledge And Decisions

“Ideas, as the raw material from which knowledge is produced, exist in superabundance, but that makes the production of knowledge more difficult rather than easier. Many ideas- probably most- will have to be discarded somewhere in the process of producing authenticated knowledge. Authentication is as important as the raw information itself, and the manner and speed of the authentication process can be crucial.”

Important Ideas Process Difficult Information Materials Easier Productions Speed Crucial Raw Materials Discarded

Book:Knowledge And Decisions

Source: Knowledge And Decisions

“The stricter standards and independent, often conclusive, evidence in the physical sciences cannot be generalized to intellectual activity as a whole, even though the aura of scientific processes and results is often appropriated by other intellectuals.”