I have been reflecting recently, and in connection with this speech, on America's centuries-long enthusiasm for novelty. In the main, it has served us and the world well, by making America the home of so many of the scientific and practical innovations that have transformed life in the 21st century from that of the 19th. But, especially when coupled with an equally American susceptibility to boosterism and the fear of missing out, it has also sometimes led to a mass suspension of our critical thinking and to occasionally impetuous, deluded crazes or fads. Sometimes the consequences are in hindsight merely puzzling or ... (full story)