Response to Randall Stone - Heresy or scientific progress?

Randall Stone's critique of theory of moves (TOM) is motivated by a desire to purge game theory of TOM's alleged "backsliding" and restore its superio r orthodoxy. But Stone's indictment is marred by serious misunderstandings of TOM and unfortunate misconceptions about what constitutes a scientific t heory and how it should he applied and tested. The author rebuts Stone's ch arges and briefly discusses a new area for which TOM seems especially well suited-the study of path dependence-suggesting how TOM can contribute to th e understanding of when actors make seemingly irrational choices that lead to immediately worse outcomes.