Just because something’s been around a long time doesn’t…

In a recent podcast, Sam Harris asked martial artist Matt Thornton why certain martial arts manage to be passed down from generation to generation despite failing spectacularly to prepare its followers for an actual fight. He responded, “[just] because something has been around for a long time doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good for us, it just means it’s good at replication.”

It’s a common fallacy to believe things that have been around for a long time must still be around for good reason.

When we believe this, we tend to give these things a pass instead of scrutinizing them which, somewhat ironically, perpetuates the cycle of bad ideas and practices replicating from one generation to the next.

It doesn’t matter how many people have vouched for something, you should still question it.

If there’s merit, then and only then should you adopt it with confidence.

Otherwise, don’t.

“Because someone else did it” is a terrible reason to follow suit.