It is always the 'newcomers' who change the world, but adults only support 'young people who do not change the world'
"The older generation does not have the power to change the world. It is always the 'newcomers' who change the world."
This is the conclusion from Thomas Kuhn's 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'.
The world is slow to change... in a narrow sense, neighborhood associations or workplaces, and in a broad sense, politics or nations... while there are major changes due to IT innovation and the like, there are many things that we want to change but do not.
I first encountered this phrase not in the original book, but as a quote in Tetsushi Takimoto's 'Mirai no Jugyo' (Future Class) (Kodansha 2016).
This time, I will think about "why the world is slow to change" by quoting Tetsushi Takimoto's 'Mirai no Jugyo'.
1. Does it take centuries for the world to change from the "geocentric theory" to the "heliocentric theory"!?
A prominent example is Copernicus's "heliocentric theory". Even I, who am not well-versed in astronomy, can somewhat understand the logic of the heliocentric theory. However, it is a famous story that this was not the case until around the 16th century, the time of Copernicus.
In Copernicus's time, astronomy had an absolute textbook, the 'Almagest' written by the ancient Roman astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century BC. Looking at it now, it is nonsense, but it explained the geocentric theory mathematically and was supported for over 1,000 years.
Copernicus spent 30 years collecting detailed data and organizing the heliocentric theory, but it is said that he did not publish it immediately.
The problem was not just mathematical, which is considered one of the reasons. It seems it was so closely tied to the existence of "God" that there was a story in the Bible that "God set the foundations of the earth so that it would never move," and the heliocentric theory that overturned the geocentric theory was an act of defying God at the time. For this reason, Copernicus, who was hesitant to publish, passed away before the publication of his book 'De revolutionibus orbium coelestium' (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), which summarized the heliocentric theory.
And once it was published... starting with the scholars of the time, many people did not accept the heliocentric theory even after it was announced, and it was ignored.
Later, it was passed on to Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, and others, and the heliocentric theory was completed in the 17th century. In particular, as you know from the "Galileo trial," Galileo preached the heliocentric theory while his life was in danger. That is how much it was not accepted in the world. By this point, nearly 100 years had passed.
However, the Roman Curia and the Catholic Church, in other words, the people who strongly pushed the geocentric theory and pressured the proponents of the heliocentric theory, officially recognized the correctness of the heliocentric theory... surprisingly, it was in 1992. In terms of the Japanese era, it was the Heisei era, 30 years ago from now.
It even seems phenomenal, but why is that?
2. It is always the "newcomers" who change the world
Mr. Takimoto introduces it as follows.
Copernicus's heliocentric theory gained almost no supporters for more than a century after his death. (Omitted) Then, when, at what timing, and how are such new theories that overturn the world accepted?
His (Thomas Kuhn's) conclusion is "generational change."
In other words, the older generation of adults who believe in the geocentric theory will never change, no matter how much solid new evidence you present to them. No matter what happens, they will not bend their own theories. The heliocentric theory becomes "common sense" in the world when the older generation of adults grows old and leaves this world, and a new generation stands at the center of the era. Only "generational change" changes the world. ...That is what he says.
And for an old paradigm to shift to a new paradigm (paradigm shift), "generational change" is necessary. The older generation does not have the power to change the world. It is always the "newcomers" who change the world.
In other words, the world changes because people are replaced through generational change, that is.
This is natural, for example, in the current situation where no matter how much you appeal to people in positions of power, such as politicians, it does not change, because "old people" will never change.
3. Adults only support "young people who do not change the world"
In addition to the topic of paradigm shifts from the example of Copernicus, the following is also written at the end of the book.
When you try to change the world, when you try to make your dreams come true, it is a big mistake to think that the adults around you will support you. Adults only support young people who do not threaten their own status. In other words, only "young people who do not change the world." From the perspective of adults, having the world changed by your hands is a huge nuisance.
"What is an important truth that almost no one agrees with?"
This is a big theme that you can spend your whole life asking.
Even if headwinds are blowing, even if the adults around you all oppose you, even if you are scolded, laughed at, or made a fool of, you must not give up there. Your own "future" is waiting beyond the headwinds.
In other words, "old people" do not change their own thinking, and they do not accept people who try to change it, so as long as those people are there, it will never change, it can be said.
4. Myself as a young person, myself becoming an adult
I don't feel like the older generation is changing things for the better. No, to be precise, there are people who are trying to, but the reason it still doesn't change is likely because the mechanism mentioned above is at work in the majority.
Furthermore, deriving from that... if such people choose leaders, etc., people with similar orientations are chosen, so there is a danger that it will be reproduced even if the generation changes.
In other words, in organizations where older people are likely to be in positions of authority, if they themselves do not change, it can be said that unchanging reproduction is easily promoted.
Therefore, the opportunity lies in when people change! Perhaps it would be ideal to wait patiently while wearing a mask, and then suddenly take it off... but the question is how many people are actually that clever and determined.
Reading this book and thinking about the points above gave me a great sense of conviction, while at the same time, I turned my gaze toward myself, as I am no longer a young person.
I, too, have reached a decent position within my organization... Although I am known as a character who speaks their mind relatively often, I still feel that there are many things I can no longer achieve.
However, what is even scarier is the sense of crisis that I might have become an 'old person' and am nipping the buds of the next generation. If I, who am unable to realize a better future, am crushing the potential to make the future better, it would be utterly ridiculous.
At the very least, these days I have felt the need to continue refining myself so that I do not become an 'old person'.
Thank you very much for reading until the end☆