Humans adapt their behavior by observing it. Looking at sth. doesn't affect the outcome, but instead the observation adds to the set of exogenous variables that will determine future behavior. We're not an ant colony that acts in an entirely exogenous setting, we change the setting both through the (un)intended consequences of the observed behavior and our attitudes toward them.
The allocation of scarce ressources did neither begin with capitalism nor economics. Many formal descriptions of foundational economic principles can (edit: be traced back to) ancient Mythology [1]. How societies applied these principles has differed greatly. Trade has been an important factor of human behavior since the dawns of civilization. In a framework of linear progress one might be tempted to search for deterministic laws in human behavior, but it might make more sense to just interpret phenomena case-by-case with a rather loose set of theoretical beliefs.
The allocation of scarce ressources did neither begin with capitalism nor economics. Many formal descriptions of foundational economic principles can (edit: be traced back to) ancient Mythology [1]. How societies applied these principles has differed greatly. Trade has been an important factor of human behavior since the dawns of civilization. In a framework of linear progress one might be tempted to search for deterministic laws in human behavior, but it might make more sense to just interpret phenomena case-by-case with a rather loose set of theoretical beliefs.
[1] Tomas Sedlacek - Economics of Good and Evil