# Outdated science theories and outdated technologies can both remain on the Knowledge frontier You see people using ‘outdated’ technology all the time: * Vinyl records have better sound quality than computerized audio * Using lower level programming languages because they give you better performance * More examples … [[Thomas Kuhn]] in [[kuhnStructureScientificRevolutions1962]] says that this is a matter of pure mental resistance that then gets toppled in a revolution. However [[Jerry Neumann]] in [[neumannOneProcess2020]] points out that people who “know” that Newtonian physics is “wrong” still describe the world in its terms because it is still a useful predictive theory. This explanation is a bit uncomfortable because ‘use’ shouldn’t come into science. Perhaps it suggests that even within [[Describing an effect in an inventive manner is important for separating invention and discovery]] there is still fuzziness This shouldn’t be confused with people not adopting new things because of their learning curves ( or because of technical debt (like using COBOL on old systems) The prevalence of ‘outdated’ ideas thanks to their multivariate nature has a strong parallel to evolution. [[In the same way that species don’t suddenly replace each other, technologies and ideas don’t suddenly replace each other]]. <!-- #evergreen --> [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Outdated+science+theories+and+outdated+technologies+can+both+remain+on+the+Knowledge+frontier) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Outdated+science+theories+and+outdated+technologies+can+both+remain+on+the+Knowledge+frontier)