Dear Ross, 
 
   I am amazed that the metaphor of cat and mouse is beginning to take a life 
   of its own. I want to avoid being trapped by it. I regard Adam Smith as a 
   very big cat (The King Lion). So the identity of who is the cat and who is 
   mouse is open to switching, confusing the metaphor. 
 
   I take the approach that we are living in a house that our ancestors built, 
   and the construction has been an ongoing process.  I am not as brave as 
   Knight to suppose that we have somewhat of a correct view as opposed to the 
   presumably incorrect view of our ancestors. I think that every generation 
   makes changes in the house they inherit to suit their lifestyles. In my 
   case, I am actually trying to return to the roots, sort of going back to the 
   old house and see it somewhat from the view of <the mouse = the old cat>. 
 
   Of course I admit that our tastes differ from our ancestors. We get bored by 
   long verbal expositions and crave for neat math. May be we also prefer 
   sharper distinctions. But I am not convinced that we are intellectually 
   superior. Indeed, my argument is that we have strayed quite a lot and ought 
   to rethink our point of origin. 
 
   Mohammad Gani