You have fallen prey to a well-known thought-terminating cliché. A group of people are walking down the street when one person among the group points out a 20-

You have fallen prey to a well-known thought-terminating cliché. A group of people are walking down the street when one person among the group points out a 20-dollar bill on the sidewalk. The armchair economist in the group says, "There is no 20-dollar bill here, because if there were, someone would have picked it up by now." Everyone in group defers to their friend's brilliant insight and keeps walking.