Incentives are like the physics of economics

I would say the difference is that humans don’t always act rationally based on incentives, but systems/masses do

Whereas an individual object will always behave according to the conditions of the physics surrounding it

“Show me the incentives I’ll show you the outcome” — is the same style of determinism as laws of physics determining how something will behave given certain conditions

I also love the phrase measure what you value because you will value what you measure; wrt to choosing the correct metrics.

more of a science as it’s behaviour of the natural world. i like your metaphor.