Rejection, argument, anger and finally acceptance

I'd like to share an excerpt with you today:

".....I am reminded of the various stages of grief: rejection, argument, anger, and acceptance. It is true of terminal disease and the progress of great ideas as well. When somebody first comes up with a new idea, everybody ignores it. Then people ridicule it, coming up with vehement arguments against it, before arriving at acceptance and support. Then not only do they find themselves explaining why it is a good idea; they go on to say, 'Yeah, I thought of it.' It has been proved to be true though out history and is true of politics, economics and warfare. General Billy Mitchell was drummed out of the service in the 1920s for claiming the aircraft carrier was the wave of the future. Nobody remembers that now, of course, certainly not the people in the armed forces".

-Jim Rogers, in 'Adventure Capitalist'

Why is it that new and great ideas are always met with ridicule and rejection? History is laden with great men whom introduced radical new ideas, only to be shamed and accused of heresy.

Galileo, in the early 16th century, proved through his scientific research that the Sun did not revolve around the earth. Instead, he proposed that the Sun is in the centre while the Earth rotates on itself and moves around it. We all know this today as common sense but Galileo was found guilty for proposing such heresy and condemned to lifelong imprisonment.

When people hear a new idea that doesn't affect them, they greet it with indifference. However, if it does affect them, they greet it with rejection and argument because it changes their world. It is unfamiliar and it makes them uncomfortable. It creates a feeling of insecurity.

These emotions are followed by anger. An emotional reaction against the person whose idea has threatened to disrupt their world (as in the case of Galileo condemned guilty).

Finally, after the evidence is undeniable, the once radical idea is accepted as fact. In some cases, the same people who most violently rejected the idea now claim the idea to be theirs. It is too bad that this type of human behavior keeps repeating itself. Would we ever change? I often have to fight my natural tendencies to reject new ideas and instead to keep an open mind. How open minded are you?