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Eliezer Yudkowsky\u2019s catchily-titled\xa0Inadequate Equilibria\xa0is many things. It\u2019s a look into whether there is any role for individual reason in a world where you can always just trust expert consensus. It\u2019s an analysis of the efficient market hypothesis and how it relates to the idea of low-hanging fruit. It\u2019s a self-conscious defense of the author\u2019s own arrogance.

But most of all, it\u2019s a book of theodicy. If the world was created by the Invisible Hand, who is good, how did it come to contain so much that is evil?

The market economy is very good at what it does, which is something like \u201cexploit money-making opportunities\u201d or \u201cpick low-hanging fruit in the domain of money-making\u201d. If you see a $20 bill lying on the sidewalk, today is your lucky day. If you see a $20 bill lying on the sidewalk in Grand Central Station, and you remember having seen the same bill a week ago, something is wrong. Thousands of people cross Grand Central every week \u2013 there\u2019s no way a thousand people would all pass up a free $20. Maybe it\u2019s some kind of weird trick. Maybe you\u2019re dreaming. But there\u2019s no way that such a low-hanging piece of money-making fruit would go unpicked for that long.