A naive view, at best. You're forgetting all about politics and special interests.
> We can't leave it to intuitions of the masses.
Precisely the mindset of the power elite that gets us into so much trouble.
> We can't leave it to intuitions of the masses.
Precisely the mindset of the power elite that gets us into so much trouble.
Could we be getting better at a faster rate, as a species? Most likely, but it's not like we've halted progress or something.
Totally agree. But are those improvements due to the decisions of central planners?
> What do you mean 'so much trouble'?
Things that come to mind: abysmal outcomes for many in the public school system; skyrocketing prices in healthcare; urban families almost completely destroyed by paternalistic welfare programs; massive suffering and death caused by the warfare state; shredding of the Bill of Rights by the TSA; economic calamity caused by Fed-fueled booms and busts; etc.
Look at the places with the worst outcomes and you will find the most government involvement.
Of course. That doesn't mean they are the problem. It's entirely plausible they are involved because there's a problem. In a system with honey, bees and bears, just because you often see bears involved with honey doesn't mean they are responsible for its creation.
LOL, really ? There are more and more obese people in the US, does that count as getting healthier ? What are your metrics exactly ?
As for living longer lives, that's already clearly proven most of the life expectancy gains happened since we reduced infant mortality to minimum levels, raising therefore lifetime for all individuals on average.
I lean toward valuing individual rights over all else, but this scenario does present a serious challenge to that worldview.
Another contributor to the problem is that people trust science a lot less today than 2 generations ago. They've seen the negative results of a lot of fraud that has been perpetuated under the banner of "science". (E.g. "scientific socialism", the food pyramid, most of psychology, etc...)