It becomes amazing that we make progress at all, when you think of it this way: it’s often to the state’s advantage to keep the population ignorant and poor.
States are also in competition with each other. A state with more military innovations can invade you. A state with more advanced culture can assimilate you. Your population can defect and move to a state that offers them a better deal.
Right. My point is just that the state will heavily favor centralized technology to address these challenges, because it prefers to maintain control. Seeing like a State illustrates how this can result in much worse productivity overall (in contrast to pre-existing noncentralized systems), while still being much better for the state (due to increased tax revenue, and diminished risk of rebellion).
States are also in competition with each other. A state with more military innovations can invade you. A state with more advanced culture can assimilate you. Your population can defect and move to a state that offers them a better deal.
Right. My point is just that the state will heavily favor centralized technology to address these challenges, because it prefers to maintain control. Seeing like a State illustrates how this can result in much worse productivity overall (in contrast to pre-existing noncentralized systems), while still being much better for the state (due to increased tax revenue, and diminished risk of rebellion).