What I'm trying to get at is a phenomena I think I see. Scientific theories, or at least stories, prevail for a time, then get trashed. But years or centuries later the new theory circles back to the old, at least in some respects. Two examples:
- Lamarckian theory of evolution said changes due to the environment can be passed down to the offspring. A giraffe would extend its neck reaching for foliage, and the slightly longer neck could be passed on. With Darwin this was thrown out. But recent genetics seems to have found cases where the first sentence is true.
- An article, I believe in Wired, I read today but didn't get the url. It was a long piece on aerosol transmission of covid, a story of scientists researching and upsetting a long-established belief that droplets bigger than 5 microns were the key. The scientists believe that much smaller aerosols are key in many viruses. They have echoes of the long disdained "miasma" theory of the 19th century--the idea that cholera, yellow fever, etc. were transmitted by "bad air".
The moral for today might be: take care in totally dismissing established theories--an element of truth may be hiding below the surface.
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