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Most of the big advances are made simply by trying stuff out
Monday, 9 October 2006
Most of the people you meet day-to-day think they have a pretty good idea about how it all works. Or at least, how all the bits they care about work. They've made up their mind long ago about things, and regard anyone who's willing to think otherwise as a dangerous idiot.
This isn't a new thing, and has been going on for pretty much all of recorded human history. In fact, certainly even longer than that. At any particular time, most people think they've got the universe figured out, with only a few fuzzy bits around the edges. This was as true a thousand years ago as it is today.
For example, in the 16th Century, almost everyone in Europe thought the Earth was at the center of the solar system - with the sun, planets and stars orbiting around it. You could see the bodies in the sky moving, while the ground underneath people's feet clearly stood still. Only an idiot would believe otherwise.
Then along came such an idiot names Nicolaus Copernicus who proposed that the Earth was just another planet revolving around the Sun. It turned out, of course, that he was right. A belief system that almost all educated people had held since at least Ancient Greek times was shattered by someone who simply chose to consider an alternative.
And don't think such things occurred only centuries ago. In 2005, two Australian medical researchers, Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren, were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work on stomach ulcers. Such ulcers are so common, that doctors figured they had them pretty much worked out. They were seen as being the result of a stressful lifestyle.
Marshall and Warren proposed that such ulcers were the result of bacteria, contradicting the idea that nothing could grow in the stomach because of the intense gastric juices in it. Their idea was so far out that it was mostly simply ignored.
“The idea of stress and things like that was just so entrenched nobody could really believe that it was bacteria," Marshall said. "It had to come from some weird place like Perth, Western Australia, because I think nobody else would have even considered it."
But it turns out they were right, and they revolutionized the treatment of ulcers, despite the fact nobody believed their crazy theory for over a decade.
Almost all human advances follow a similar path. The established knowledge is so entrenched - so obvious - that nobody even thinks to question it. It appears as certain as the sky is blue and to think alternatively just labels you a charlatan or worse. That is until someone shows otherwise, then everyone says they never believed the stupid old theory anyway.
The tendency of humans to believe they already know everything important offers those who think outside those bound an enormous advantage. If you understand the conventional knowledge, and have the brains and courage to look beyond it, you can give yourself a big competitive edge. Most people are so in love with what they think they know, that they're blind to even obvious flaws in their theories.
Whether it's tackling the job market, investing, looking for love, or making big medical discoveries - those who dare to look beyond the "common-sense" of the masses can find great success. Train yourself to first understand the conformists, then step outside their walls, and you'll go far.
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