New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can't be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doin... — Arthur C. Clarke

New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can't be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along! Arthur C.

Author: Arthur C. Clarke

Insight: We've all watched this pattern play out, usually from the sidelines. Someone proposes something that sounds impossible—remote work, cryptocurrency, solar panels on every roof—and the response is immediate dismissal. Not even curiosity, just a flat "that won't work." Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, the conversation shifts. Maybe it will work. But who cares? It's too niche, too expensive, too weird. And then one day, everyone's doing it, and suddenly the skeptics act like they always believed. The strangest part isn't the initial resistance—our brains are wired to protect us from unfamiliar risk. It's that final stage, the amnesia. People genuinely seem to forget their doubts. They rewrite the story so they were in the club all along. This matters because it reveals something uncomfortable: we're not actually making decisions based on logic. We're following the group, then pretending we led it. Recognizing this pattern in yourself—catching that moment when you shift from "impossible" to "obvious"—is a small but real act of honesty. It keeps you humble about what you actually know versus what you're just going along with.