Conclusions Peter Brown and Peter Timmerman argue that mainstream economics is an ‘orphaned discipline’. It is founded, they claim, on a “dated and unrevised metaphysical and prescientific vision" that is “incompatible with what we know about the universe and our place in it" (Brown and Timmerman, 2015). Looking at free-market theory in the context of the modern understanding of evolution, this assessment rings true. Please share this article - Go to very top of page, right hand side, for social media buttons. Adam Smith’s concept of the invisible hand was a plausible hypothesis when it was proposed more than two centuries ago (Smith, 1776). Given the state of knowledge at the time, it seemed possible that self-interest, if properly channeled, could benefit groups. But as our knowledge of evolution has progressed, this hypothesis has grown steadily less plausible. The problem is that the major transitions in evolution show a pattern that is the opposite of the invisible hand. Rather than organize decentrally, each wave of group formation seems to use at least some form of centralization. And rather than stoke the self-interest of subcomponents, successful groups seem to suppress it. And they often do so by using hierarchy.