Editorial January 29, 1996 Issue

Welcoming new ideas in a changing world

Russ Gerber

The winds of change are blowing. Gusting. This is a time when people from all walks of life—people in seats of government, prominent medical doctors, educators, religious leaders, legal scholars—are saying there needs to be new thinking and fundamental change if humanity is to advance as it should. They're saying it's time old ways were left behind.

Others say things are fine just as they are. "What worked then will work now." "We've always done it this way." "Why change?" The point is understandable. The mere fact that someone suggests something new doesn't mean it is necessarily something better. Maybe some things should remain as they are for the time being. Driving a particular route to and from work. The way in which a product is made. An office procedure.

And yet if there is to be improvement in society, change is inevitable. So for those of us who want to support improvement, as well as benefit from it, perhaps the crucial issue is our underlying attitude when ideas are introduced. In other words, will we automatically slam the door on an idea that involves a change in some direction or method even when the change is likely to be for the better? Or instead, will we be open to new ideas and honestly examine them? There is a danger in narrow, status quo thinking. It gets in the way of progress, of seeing fresh and better ways of doing things. A more-of-the-same disposition can end up shutting out, to some extent, the very direction or correction or inspiration we most need.

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