Barriers to Progress – Why Is Society Innately Hard-Wired to Spurn Originators, Creators, Thought-Leaders & Pioneers?

The Broken Life-Compass

Let’s explore this fascinating paradox—why does true progress, by its very nature, provokes resistance, fear, and even outright hostility. At its core, human civilization thrives on stability, continuity and the perpetuation of the traditions vested into us as . Societies are built on shared understandings, inherited wisdom, and the implicit assumption that what has worked before will continue to work in the future. This is what creates culture, laws, traditions, and norms. But the very same structures that provide security also create a deep inertia that resists change.

The Double-Edged Sword of Convention: Every major breakthrough you’ve listed—Darwin, Einstein, Berners-Lee—was a challenge to an existing paradigm. But what’s remarkable is that these breakthroughs were not instantly celebrated. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was seen as heretical, threatening religious and societal order. Einstein’s theories were ridiculed before they were accepted. Semmelweis, who discovered that doctors were spreading infections by failing to wash their hands, was driven into insanity because the medical establishment refused to listen. And yet, despite the long history of backlash against innovators, we continue to teach our children that originality is good while unconsciously pressuring them to conform.

My 8-year-old son is picking up on something profound. There is an unwritten rule in human behaviour: the safest path is the one that doesn’t invite scrutiny.

The Psychological Cost of Originality:

Innovation comes at a social cost. Being unconventional can lead to rejection, ridicule, and exclusion. The tribal wiring of the human brain is designed for survival, and for most of our history, survival depended on belonging. Breaking with the group—whether by suggesting a radical new idea or simply by behaving differently—was once a literal danger to one's life. That deep-rooted fear of exclusion still operates today, even if the stakes have changed.

For a child, this is particularly acute. School, for all its virtues, often rewards compliance. The educational system, by its structure, incentivizes answers that align with expectations. The most original thinkers in history were often not straight-A students, because truly creative thinking is at odds with standardized education.

Why Progress is Always Counterintuitive:

The irony is that progress itself depends on breaking this cycle. The ideas that shape the future always begin as heresy to the present. But since most people’s instincts are wired to resist uncertainty, even great ideas are often dismissed outright when they first appear. In fact, there’s a pattern to how breakthroughs are received:

1. Ridicule – “That’s absurd!”

2. Hostility – “This is dangerous and must be stopped!”

3. Gradual Acceptance – “Alright, fine, maybe there’s some merit.”

4. Integration into the Status Quo – “This was always obvious. Why was there ever a debate?”

Even now, you can see this pattern in action with AI, climate science, or new economic theories that challenge neoliberalism. The new always feels unnatural because the human brain defaults to established convention / The Thinking of The Establishment. In many ways, it is how we fit in.

Teaching Children to Challenge the Status Quo: Somewhere along the way, I’d like to think outside of this homelife, our son instinctively fears breaking with convention. In absorbing what he sees around him he moulds to convention. The trick is in finding ways to make nonconformity feel less like a risk and more like an adventure. This doesn’t mean rejecting all traditions—far from it—but rather giving children space to imagine freely without the weight of expectation.

One way to frame it is:

• Instead of seeking the "right" answer, ask what no one else is asking.

• Instead of fearing mistakes, embrace them as part of exploration.

• Instead of seeking approval, seek discovery.

As I say, the paradox is that history is not written by those who follow the script—it is rewritten by those who question it. Pioneers tread the path less trodden. They live to make the mistakes that others lack the courage to even contemplate because their instincts prickle that there is a better way. Innately, they are the kind of person who rewrites history, one must first overcome the fear of being out of sync with the present. That’s the great counterintuitive challenge of progress. This is the gauntlet of self-acceptance nonconformists must throw down to themselves. They dare to be different because they think differently.