[dvogel]

This is a pattern I've noticed throughout history. I really wish there was a popular science book that tried to answer the question: why do humans seem to make so much progress with each initial invention? It seems like everything from bridges to antibiotics, the initial inventions have lasting power because they address 80% of the problem. The track record of success inventing an 80% solution as the first entrance is astounding but it is clouded by our focus on the exceptions like flight where we were stumped for a long time. Surely there's some survivorship bias too. We don't remember the bridge designs that failed immediately, but I'm focused less on that. Why are _any_ of the initial designs in so many fields still around? Why are fundamental shifts that completely upend our understanding of fields so rare?