Epistemic standards for “Why did it take so long to invent X?”
In 1979 when I was at school in a maths class the teacher (for some reason) was talking about graphine and how it would be a game changer when invented and I said - why don&#x27;t you get a bit of pencil lead and put between two bits of cellotape, rinse repeat until you got a thin layer.  I was lambasted and ridiculed by the teacher.<p>THAT is another reason why it takes so long to invent X.  People who shouldn&#x27;t, quickly dismiss and idiot label anything outside the box of thinking.  Still irks me, even today how I was not strong enough to stand my ground (probably been put in detention for answering back) and how I accepted that I was wrong.