The concept of the social sciences came into being in the 17th century.

The term is misleading since there really can be no such thing. That is not to say that we cannot study social arrangements or societies. It is to say that such studies do not qualify as science. They are actually closer to history or anthropology.

When once we have convinced ourselves that studying social arrangements and societies can be treated as scientific investigation, then it is a very small leap to concluding that we can manipulate it according to our wishes much the same way as we manipulate physical matter using scientific principles derived from physics.

This is a serious error in judgment and has led to most of our social and societal problems.