# Uptimal solutions in science and technology are rarer than you think Take Newtonian mechanics and Einsteinian mechanics: Einsteinian mechanics describes the universe strictly better than Newtonian mechanics. Einstein can predict anything Newton can predict but Einstein can predict things Newton cannot. Einstein is “less wrong” than Newton in this sense. However, people still use Newtonian physics *all the time* even though they know it is ‘wrong.’ Why? Because it still gets most things right and is way easier to use. We often look at only one parameter of a science or technology and as soon as a new idea supersedes on that parameter we declare the old thing obsolete. This single-parameter obsolescence is especially prevalent in science. The ideal in science is that as soon as a theory has strictly more powerful explanatory power than another theory it should completely replace that theory. (See [[Karl Popper]]) However, the reality is that we evaluate theories on more than just the parameter of explanatory power. Multi-parameter evaluation is one reason why myths persist - they are very transmissible or rememberable. [[Outdated science theories and outdated technologies can both remain on the Knowledge frontier]]! The ‘non-primary’ parameters of a heuretic affect its dispersion. [[Dispersion is the process of a heuretic impacting the world]]. If a theory is both extremely predictive and hard to transmit, not only will it disperse more slowly but it’s “carrying capacity” in the environment will be lower. ([[Constraints limit the impact and dispersion speed of a heuretic]].) ### Related * Inspired by [[neumannOneProcess2020]] * [[Knowledge frontier]] * [[§Tech Tree Model of Heuretics]] * [[Technodiversity is important]]