Max Plank wrote in his autobiography: > "A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. . . . An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: it rarely happens that Saul becomes Paul. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out, and that the growing generation is familiarized with the ideas from the beginning: another instance of the fact that the future lies with the youth." This is often paraphrased as "science progresses one funeral at a time." Yancey Strickler compares the process to a party which keeps going, whilst new party-goers arrive and old ones leave. The norms that we are used to are simply the music that was playing at the time we arrived at the party. It takes a generational turnover for the music to change. # Examples **The 3-point shot** The 3-point shot was introduced to the NBA in 1979, the same year Larry Bird and Magic Johnson started their careers and their epic rivalry. That first year, an average of 2.8 three-pointers were attempted each game. The reason was that it was a harder shot to make. Two-pointers went in half of the time. Three-pointers went in only 30 percent of the time. When Michael Lewis published *Moneyball* in 2003, it ignited interest in data analysis, and analysts soon discovered that more than any other kind of shot, such as a layup or dunk, a three-pointer was the best shot to make. There were more three-pointers taken in the 2017-18 NBA season than in all of the 1980s. **The Antiseptic Method** Joseph Lister shared his findings of the antiseptic approach in the Lancet in 1867. The medical establishment mostly ignored it. In 1881, US President Garfield's doctors didn't believe in it, and may have contributed to his death from a gunshot wound (they inserted dirty fingers into him trying to locate the bullet.) But by 1903, King Edward of England was given an emergency appendectomy, where sterile procedures were followed. **Financial Maximisation** In 1970, Milton Friedman wrote an influential essay in the New York Times, in which he argued that ‘the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits’. In that year, 36 percent of college students surveyed said that getting rich was their no. 1 priority. In 2000, it was 70 percent of them. **Jogging** In 1951, 51 percent of Yale freshmen passed a basic physical fitness test. By 1960, only 35 percent passed. The reason was TV. In 1950, there were 3 million TVs in American homes. By 1960, there were 50 million. As a response to this crisis of lethargy, President-Elect John Kennedy wrote an essay in *Sports Illustrated* called "The Soft American." In the 1960s, someone running outside for exercise was so uncommon that people called the police when it happened. In 1966, a book called *Jogging* came out that introduced a gentler style of running. This style of running had first been introduced in New Zealand by Arthur Lydiard. The author, Bill Bowerman, a running coach, had been a student of Lydiard's training system, and his book spread the practice to the US. Bowerman would go on to design a new running shoe and co-found Nike. --- Source: [[Reference Notes/This Could Be Our Future]]