Toward a Science of Policy

Kartik B. Ariyur, Purdue University [email protected] Introduction From a biological perspective, all human action is aimed at self-preservation. While there may be differences in the proximate goals of individuals, all their actions (whether of mice or men) can be explained by the pursuit of predictability in the conditions of their existence. The proximate goals appear to be different simply because different individuals calculate the consequences of their actions over different lengths of time, i.e., some calculate further into the future than others. In the context of scarce resources, where desires exceed means, this leads to a contest for them. While technology does extend the means significantly from generation to generation, our desires have also continued to grow as we seek ever more of predictability.