Where do the order and prosperity of human society come from?
Smith may have already discovered an important clue to unlocking the secret behind the order and prosperity of human society. However, he also understood clearly that such an answer would be regarded as heretical and unacceptable to society. At the same time, he had no intention of becoming another Galileo Galilei — a martyr for the sake of truth.
Author: GUDORDI | 2025-11-25
亞當·史密斯1776年出版的《國富論》，並非是一本教科書，而是一部大論戰中發出的大炮……
Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations in 1776──not as a textbook, but as a polemical cannon……
──亞當·史密斯學社（Adam Smith Institute）
No one surpassed Smith’s contributions.
Some commentators have said that, in terms of bringing tangible well-being to humanity as a whole, Adam Smith may have made the greatest contribution in human history. Some have even argued that his achievements in this regard far surpassed all other “competitors,” possibly exceeding the combined contributions of a dozen or even twenty major figures who came after him.
At first glance, such a claim may sound exaggerated. But upon deeper reflection, there is some basis for it. The issue is simply that Smith himself never encouraged people to view his ideas from this perspective, and few later thinkers emphasized interpreting his thought in this way either.
Perhaps everything can be traced back to a debate held at the Royal Society in 1748. On that day, Adam Smith — speaking with a strong Scottish accent — presented a shocking and unconventional idea: that the pursuit of self-interest was not evil, and might even be a major force that actually unknowingly promotes the improvement of society’s overall welfare.
This view immediately caused a huge reaction among the audience, who regarded it as completely heretical. Yet despite facing widespread criticism, Smith did not retreat. In a quiet but firm voice, he continued explaining his ideas, and the debate eventually ended on an unhappy note.
Two Works and the Central Question
After returning to his residence, Adam Smith continued sitting at his desk, writing manuscripts late into the night. Outside was the prosperity and noise of London; inside was a lonely soul, tirelessly trying to explain where the order and prosperity of human society truly come from…
More than a decade later, in 1759, Smith published The Theory of Moral Sentiments, in which he first introduced the concept of the “Invisible Hand.”
After that, Smith spent another ten years completing An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776, commonly known as The Wealth of Nations. Even after publishing The Wealth of Nations, Smith continued revising The Theory of Moral Sentiments. From this perspective, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Smith’s entire life revolved around these two works and the question of where the order and prosperity of human society originate.
It is worth noting that the central ideas of these two works are deeply connected. The Wealth of Nations can even be understood as the sequel of The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Furthermore, both books may be subtly linked to the legendary 1748 debate at the Royal Society mentioned earlier.
Perhaps we may go a step further and speculate that, as early as his twenties (Smith was born in 1723), Smith had already begun to sense that there might exist a force in the universe beyond immediate human perception — a force exerting profound influence on the human mind and on interactions between people, though not yet fully recognized by society. This could be understood as the deepest underlying logic behind human behavior and social order, or what Elon Musk often refers to as “first principles.”
How Can One Change the World’s Established Beliefs?
If this was indeed the case, then Adam Smith may have already grasped a crucial clue to unlocking the secret behind the order and prosperity of human society. However, he also understood clearly that his answer would be regarded as heretical and unacceptable to society. At the same time, he had no desire to become another Galileo Galilei and sacrifice himself for the truth.
From this perspective, Smith’s life can be understood as an attempt by a single individual to try to overturn thousands of years of human misunderstanding and intellectual blind spots.
As suggested at the beginning of this article, the essence of The Wealth of Nations is more like an intellectual cannon. More importantly, this perspective allows us to understand Smith’s thought from a higher dimension. As the historian of thoughts Jerry Z. Muller pointed out, Smith’s goal was not merely to make people wealthier, but to make them better human beings — “about making men better-off, not merely better-off.”
The Compound Effect Is the Source of the Market’s Remarkable Power
If we continue to interpret Adam Smith from this perspective, what he was attempting to do was extraordinarily difficult, and he approached it with great prudency. It is possible that many of his views were never stated directly.
If we carefully examine the context surrounding the two bold predictions mentioned earlier, we may come to agree that these predictions were revealed almost unintentionally. Smith was not deliberately trying to make sensational forecasts; rather, based on his understanding, these seemingly daring predictions were entirely possible.
One of the key forces behind this remarkable phenomenon, the author believes, is the compounding effect referred to in the famous quote by Albert Einstein mentioned at the beginning of the previous article. This will be discussed further in the next article.
