… is from page 18 of Thomas Sowell’s 2009 book, revised and expanded in 2011. Scholars and society:
Because academics have every incentive to emphasize the importance of their particular kinds of knowledge, relative to the existing knowledge of others, they often advocate courses of action that ignore the value, costs, and consequences of everyday knowledge. .
DBX: Indeed.
Nothing could be easier than to draw up a keyboard proposal to reorganize the pre-marked economic categories to suit the needs of intellectual intellectuals. The academics proposed, for example, to boost “manufacturing” and “strengthen our national defense” by restricting imports and supporting “strategically important industries”. It’s very easy to type! And the exciting prospects of successful implementation of the policy are very interesting to contemplate!
But the scholar never stops to realize that his or her plan excludes millions of individuals from using the detailed knowledge on the ground. His ability to verbalize how to rearrange pre-marked economic categories is proof enough that – especially when combined with the scholar’s good will – the scholar’s plan is sure to work the scholar’s way.
The scholar, in this, is a damn fool. And also, to the extent that he or she is taken seriously by politicians, it is dangerous.
