As a child, one day, I was told to drive the garden tractor to mow a field. The front wheel hit a clod of dirt and the tractor jerked to the right. Then it hit another clod of dirt and jerked to the left. I concluded that the clods of dirt would cancel each other out and I could just take my hands off the wheel.

My theory was disproved a minute later.

I've since thought that my childish theory resembles some economic theories, and now, applications of machine learning.