There is nothing at all absurd in theconclusion. It seems to me quite possible that at that particular moment in thedevelopment of Western thought there was the possibility for the birth of a sci-ence of psychology of a sort that still does not exist, a psychology that beginswith the problem of characterizing various systems of human knowledge andbelief, the concepts in terms of which they are organized and the principles thatunderlie them, and that only then turns to the study of how these systems mighthave developed through some combination of innate structure and organism –environment interaction. Such a psychology would contrast rather sharply withthe approach to human intelligence that begins by postulating, on a priorigrounds, certain specific mechanisms that, it is claimed, must be those underly-ing the acquisition of all knowledge and belief. The distinction is one to whichI will return in a subsequent lecture.

Gall's Law is a rule of thumb for systems design from Gall's book Systemantics: How Systems Really Work and How They Fail. It states: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system.

Gall’s Law, which states that a complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. Contrast this with a complex system designed from scratch, which never works and cannot be patched up to make it work.