A Parable – Why climate solutions might be slow

Here’s a summary from an article in the New Yorker (12 minutes)

Why do some innovations spread so swiftly and others slowly?

Consider the very different trajectories of surgical anesthesia and antiseptics, both of which were discovered in the 19th century.  Surgical anesthesia caught on much quicker than antiseptics. So what were the key differences?

First, one combated a visible and immediate problem (pain); the other combatted an invisible problem (germs) whose effects wouldn’t manifest until well after the operation. Second, although both made life better for patients, only one made life better for doctors. Anesthesia changed surgery from a brutal, time-pressured assault on a shrieking patient to a quiet, considered procedure. Early antiseptic by contrast, required the operator to work in a shower of carbolic acid. Even low dilutions burned the surgeons’ hands.

Read full article – Slow Ideas (12 mins)