Polanyi saw an alliance between this misapprehension of scientific practice and efforts to direct research according to some societal goal, for example a Soviet five-year plan of scheduled technological breakthroughs. After many forms of tradition and local knowledge were deliberately destroyed in China during the Cultural Revolution (a spasm of hyperenlightenment), one can imagine the frustration of the current Chinese regime as it now pours billions into its universities, hoping for discovery and innovation but instead producing rule followers.
