Ideas : Old and New

There is a culturally popular notion, perhaps most noticeable (but not the exclusive property of) the young that suggests that 'old' ideas are less useful or relevant than are 'new' ones. On examination, this bias toward the ideas believed to be more contemporary does not hold up particularly well; Certainly not categorically. There are good and bad ideas, both old and new.

Let's begin by considering some old ideas. Without question, some of them, under the light of modern information, seem almost humorous in their preposterousness - while others are not funny in any way at all and simply remind us about how ignorant we (as a species) were and will, ourselves, be regarded by future generations.

There was a time when each of the following ideas was accepted by most people as being, quite simply, true:

- The Earth was understood to be flat and believed to be (and justified by the 'science' of the era, to be the center of the universe.

- El Salvador was believed to be India.

- "Talk" therapy was a cure for all psychological problems.

- A simplistic surgical procedure called a Lobotomy was thought to cure serious mental illness.

- Autism was believed to be caused by what were termed 'refrigerator mothers.'

- Cars that were bigger and heavier were believed to be the best cars you could own.

- Global warming was a function of the natural course of evolution of the Earth.

- People were born a "Blank Slate" (John Locke) who developed according to their experiences in life alone.

- Nuclear war between the United States and the (former) Soviet Union was inevitable.

This is, admittedly, a VERY short set of examples of a list that could be volumes and volumes long. Old ideas, accepted in their time, that later proved to be mistaken. Many, but not ALL, old ideas are destined for this Ozymandian (please see Percy B. Shelly's famous poem, "Ozymandias" for a better understanding of the reference) fate. Many but not all. There are also a perhaps equal number of volumes listing old ideas that have stood the test of time and are as valid now as they were when they were first conceived.

Some examples of ideas first articulated generations (or longer) ago that continue to hold water today might include:

- Gravity and

- The Laws of Motion (Sir Isaac Newton)

- Relativity (Albert Einstein)

- The Golden Rule (Each and every religious text ever composed or taught)

- War is what nations resort to when they fail to solve problems in other ways

- The canon fodder of wars is always the young

- Vitamin C helps prevent Scurvy

- Washing and sterilizing surgical instruments helps prevent patients from dying

(A special note of thanks to Dr. Lister - yes Lister!- for figuring out the bacteria were living organisms that could and were killing the majority of surgical patients!)

- The Earth is a part of one of millions of Solar Systems

Again, the list could go one and on, but I think the point has been made. You just can't judge the value or validity of an idea by its age alone.

Looked at from the other side of the coin, 'new' ideas are sometimes felt to be better simply because they are newer. Whoa! How about giving that one more thought?

There was a time when each of the items on the first list was though to be new and revolutionary ideas. Lobotomy? Refrigerator mothers? No rational person believes these things any longer. I will acknowledge, though, that all ideas, no matter how evidently preposterous, seem to continue to have some following, albeit often tongue-in-cheek. There is a "Flat Earth Society" and lurking in some dark medieval asylum there is probable a physician or two who still believes that a pre-frontal Lobotomy (jamming an ice pick through a patient's eye to poke a whole in the part of the brain that manages many conscious and some not-so-conscious functions) is the best way to treat serious mental illnesses.

Most of us know better.

What matters here is the perspective. All old ideas were new once. Ideas must endure a test of time before being accepted as 'fact' or as is more commonly the case, as steps taking us a tad closer to some truth but not yet hitting the target correctly. Frustratingly, this test of time can take a lot longer than we wish it would.

Consider medicines, for example.

They are studied and researched and after what already seems to people suffering to be much too long, the FDA gives its approval and the drug comes to market. Only with the passage of longer periods of time is it realized that the drug is hurtful and has to be pulled from the market. Some of us are old enough to recall a drug called Thalidomide, a tranquilizer prescribed - with the approval of the FDA - to pregnant women. If this reference is unfamiliar to some of my younger readers, try Googling Thalidomide and the meaning will be immediately revealed to you.

So, at every time in history and at every stage of human development, ideas represent our best guesses. Some will hold up in the long run and others will not. For better or worse, the only way to really know the one from the other is to try it. Does that mean that every new idea is worth trying? Of course not. If someone were to propose, for example, that Heroine was a miracle cure for Cancer, few (other than perhaps Heroine users suffering from Cancer) would be likely to believe let alone try it! Our ability to reason, to sort out ideas worth trying from those that are just stupid is an ongoing process for us all.

One thing, though, that seems pretty unreliable as an indicator of an ideas validity, is its age.