"The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman" by Richard P. Feynman (2005)

Science, democracy, and the market economy have a principle in common. Various things are to be tried out and those that work best are to be favoured. So question the status quo and question the authority. Explore and exploit.

Scientific progress, democracy, and markets are often observed together because, once one has come to appreciate the common principle, it is hard to justify applying it selectively. No inherent complementarity between markets and democracy need exist.

In a liberal society, everyone runs his own experiment, his life. Everyone is a scientist, invested in his own method and respectful, or at least tolerant, of others' methods. Humility dictates that one share the equipment. Integrity dictates that one truthfully disclose the outcome of one's own investigations. Humility and integrity are devoid of their moral imperative in a society in which exercising them is suboptimal (if such a society exists).

What is commonly regarded as virtue is the recognition of a deep insight about one's optimal behaviour. Of two otherwise identical societies, that is juster which makes a given insight about optimal behaviour more obvious. That behaviour is moral which is in best agreement with one's preferences. Because both the discovery of preferences and of their logical implications are tasks most formidable, the society confers moral status on the outcome of this discovery.

Feynman further envisages a society organised so that humility and integrity are optimal and are the optimal habits in the pursuit of truth.

Feynman's approach to teaching is the artist's approach: Indulge your urges and expose the product to the public. If the public appreciates the product, you prosper. Otherwise, you fail as an artist. But by second-guessing the public, you can still excel as a craftsman. Feynman's is the artist's way.