But we can build institutions that allow weirdos with strange obsessions to work on their obsessions.
I suspect this is far easier said than done and that for various reasons any such institution is unstable. Either it will fail to produce anything, in which case it will die out. Or it will become extremely successful and then get co-opted and by agents who enforce conformance norms. I don’t fully understand why this is the case, but I suspect it’s because conformance norms are an excellent way for people to coordinate, establish and maintain power.
I suspect this is far easier said than done and that for various reasons any such institution is unstable. Either it will fail to produce anything, in which case it will die out. Or it will become extremely successful and then get co-opted and by agents who enforce conformance norms. I don’t fully understand why this is the case, but I suspect it’s because conformance norms are an excellent way for people to coordinate, establish and maintain power.