Simon (2.₿y.2) Kofah on Nostr: Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away ...

Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away the solution and you get the problem back. Sometimes the problem has mutated or disappeared. Often it is still there as strong as it ever was.

Donald Kingsbury, Courtship Rite

Basically, have some humility when you propose to throw away old solutions. That may be the best solution to an old problem to which you're completely blind/naive.

quoting nevent1q…7z7c

A great fallacy I've observed on numerous occasions is people claiming "this thing is terrible, this other way would work better". They say that if only things were done this way (plug in their idea), they would work better. Some have great confidence in their ideas too. But what they fail to realize is that things are the way they are already because that is the optimum solution. The world has already spoken and optimized itself around this way of doing things and not your way.

Of course this is is not always true. The gap where there is a significantly better way of doing things is where innovation lives. The challenge is identifying the gap vs. recognizing what is already optimized (it ain't broken, stop trying to fix it).

One way people tackle this is fuck around and find out. They fuck around long enough to find out what was already known. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. But occasionally they are correct and actually find a better way to do something.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I guess... my point is that it helps to think about things before jumping into them. Measure twice cut once type of deal. But once you jump on it, test it quickly.