"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"
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Max Planck, a founder of quantum theory, captured a sober truth about how scientific change often unfolds. Evidence alone does not instantly rearrange minds, especially those invested in an older framework. People build careers, reputations, and identities around certain theories; habits of thought harden into commitments. As a result, even compelling data may meet entrenched resistance. Progress, he observed, tends to arrive not by dramatic conversions but by turnover: students trained with the new ideas find them natural, and over time they become the mainstream.
The observation came from experience. Planck supported atomism when figures like Ernst Mach doubted atoms, and he witnessed how long it took for statistical mechanics and quantum concepts to be accepted. Even Einstein, a revolutionary, later resisted the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics. The lesson is not cynicism about science but realism about scientists. Human psychology, status incentives, and the sunk costs of expertise shape what counts as plausible.
History bears out this pattern. Heliocentrism did not prevail by persuading every Aristotelian; it won as successive generations found it more explanatory. Germ theory replaced miasma thinking despite fierce early dismissal of Semmelweis and Pasteur. Plate tectonics, once mocked, became geology’s backbone when new evidence and technologies trained a cohort fluent in seafloor spreading and continental drift. Thomas Kuhn later gave this dynamic a framework with the idea of paradigm shifts: anomalies accumulate, a crisis grows, and a new paradigm gains traction through education and practice rather than debate alone.
The claim is not absolute. Some scientists do change their minds, and careful argument matters. But Planck’s principle highlights the social ecology of knowledge: textbooks, graduate training, peer networks, and institutional memory shape what a community sees. The practical takeaway is humility and patience. If you want new truths to endure, cultivate the environments where newcomers can learn, test, and live with them until they simply feel like reality.
The observation came from experience. Planck supported atomism when figures like Ernst Mach doubted atoms, and he witnessed how long it took for statistical mechanics and quantum concepts to be accepted. Even Einstein, a revolutionary, later resisted the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics. The lesson is not cynicism about science but realism about scientists. Human psychology, status incentives, and the sunk costs of expertise shape what counts as plausible.
History bears out this pattern. Heliocentrism did not prevail by persuading every Aristotelian; it won as successive generations found it more explanatory. Germ theory replaced miasma thinking despite fierce early dismissal of Semmelweis and Pasteur. Plate tectonics, once mocked, became geology’s backbone when new evidence and technologies trained a cohort fluent in seafloor spreading and continental drift. Thomas Kuhn later gave this dynamic a framework with the idea of paradigm shifts: anomalies accumulate, a crisis grows, and a new paradigm gains traction through education and practice rather than debate alone.
The claim is not absolute. Some scientists do change their minds, and careful argument matters. But Planck’s principle highlights the social ecology of knowledge: textbooks, graduate training, peer networks, and institutional memory shape what a community sees. The practical takeaway is humility and patience. If you want new truths to endure, cultivate the environments where newcomers can learn, test, and live with them until they simply feel like reality.
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| Topic | Truth |
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