primate on Nostr: Tradition is certainly the shoulders of giants without which we couldn’t otherwise ...

Tradition is certainly the shoulders of giants without which we couldn’t otherwise have reached for the stars. But it is also the standard that gets in the way of its better version:

“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.” — Max Planck

This idea suggests that paradigm shifts in science often occur not because old scientists change their minds, but because new generations adopt new perspectives more readily. Old values must be replaced in the process of reevaluating all values: this is the only way toward self-correction. All else is reaction rather than response.