Building a novel bridge, especially in the wake of a spectacular failure, forces engineers to think from scratch and also to think more deeply and critically. Hence, the paradox that success leads to failure, and failure leads to success.
技术史并不仅限于工程技术的范畴。桥梁修建或其它技术的历史观点告诫人们：人性会对思维产生哪些影响。按照熟悉的模式造桥会导致骄傲自满，而在令人震惊的事故之后以新的模式造桥迫使人们从点滴入手，更深入、更批判性地认真思考。因此，成功导致失败，而失败又带来成功的悖论始终存在。