Link to originalValence as Universal Currency
At its core, everything that persists must be attracted to states that preserve it and repelled by states that destroy it. Even a chemical molecule “moves” toward stable configurations. This basic attraction/repulsion - valence - is the universal currency from which all experience emerges.
A natural tendency towards conservatism / self-preservation. But the only way to persist is to embrace constant change.
Link to originalIntertia and conservatism in science
Michael Polanyi came to the conclusion that scientists are not actually so open-minded and rational as they might have you believe. Instead, he found that there must be at all times a predominant accepted scientific view of the nature of things….A strong presumption…must prevail…that any evidence which contradicts this view is invalid. Such evidence has to be disregarded, even if it cannot be accounted for, in the hope that it will turn out to be false or irrelevant.
Rather than always seeking evidence to test their ideas, they often ignore such evidence even when it hits them in the face.
Mental friction in the community of scientists → consciousness (or
(living?)matter in general) is conservative / resistant to change.
On the one hand this inertia is natural (self-perserving; not discarding the entire body of scientific work over every crackpot’s theory – generally you want to only change what’s absolutely necessary), on the other hand, but paradoxically, you need change in order to preserve / progress.
In the space of ideas: Intellectual friction ←→ curiousity→ The same parallels from history, revolutions, and all other complex systems / critical phenomena (interaction between individuals) apply to science itself.
Small scale revolutions and shifts in thinking etc. happen all. the. time, on a personal level, within teams, groups, etc.See also The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.