Nor with compliance take any test. Y outh is open to possibilities and carries a confidence and even hubris about subduing the world before it. As a youthful science in the nineteenth century, physics possessed its portion of presumptuous certitude. Success, particularly at computing the precise future position of the planets, persuaded some physicists, that given the position and velocity of every object, the future state of the universe could be perfectly predicted. It was not until the twentieth century, when physicists could ironically explain the universe at more fundamental level, that they could precisely place limits on their ability to know.
Physicists retain much of their arrogance, but have at least placed a rigid upper bound on it.
The social sciences began this century with much of the nineteenth century's confidence in the application of the scientific method to social problems. Unfortunately, social institutions and arrangements are inherently difficult to study. The results of social science studies can too easily depend upon the biases and preconceptions the social scientist brings. Ben Wattenberg of PBS's Think Tank recently discussed with Seymour Lipset and James Q. Wilson, both former presidents of the American Political Science Association, the temptations potentially trapping social scientists. Several examples serve to illustrate.