Semmelweis Reflex
#innovation #evolution #big-ideas
Gradual, evolving progression of ideas and perspectives rarely ever happen. Thomas Kuhn popularized the idea of paradigm shifts. These happen when enough issues pile up with the current way of thinking or doing something until it breaks.
Once a crisis happens, we're forced to adopt new ideas, methods, and processes to get back to stability.
Ignaz Semmelweis observed a high death rate in mothers from doctors that handled cadavers versus those that gave birth through midwives. Eventually, he found washing your hands led to a decline, but these theories were rejected by the medical communities and doctors ignored the evidence. He went insane from the rejection he received.
20 years later, Louis Pasteur put forth Germ Theory and Semmelweis's practice of washing hands before procedures became a standard. Eventually, there's a breaking point of thought that causes a Paradigm Shift.