We bring this up a lot on the show: the need for a new “culture of experimentation” in our country — basically, admitting that we don’t know everything, we can’t always predict outcomes, and we’re willing to learn things that we never thought possible. The barrier? Being willing to fail, and being willing to pivot when new, better information that disrupts the “normal” way of doing things comes to light.
We had the chance to talk to Jim Manzi about this — Jim has spent his career teaching the benefits of social experimentation, and has a new book out about just that. Dylan talks to him about Uncontrolled: The Surprising Payoff of Trial and Error for Business, Politics and Society. To learn more about the book, the Manhattan Institute (where Manzi is a senior fellow) has some excellent information about it here.