--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The reason why new concepts in any branch…" description: "\"The reason why new concepts in any branch of science are hard to grasp is always the same; contemporary scientists try to picture the new concept in te..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/freeman-dyson-1435_branches_the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branc_2525816.png" --- # The reason why new concepts in any branch of science are… ![“The reason why new concepts in any branch of science are hard to grasp is always the same; contemporary scientists try to picture the new concept in terms of ideas which existed before.” quote by Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/freeman-dyson-1435_branches_the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branc_2525816.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/freeman-dyson-1435_branches_the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branc_2525816.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/freeman-dyson-1435_branches_the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branc_2525816.png) > “The reason why new concepts in any branch of science are hard to grasp is always the same; contemporary scientists try to picture the new concept in terms of ideas which existed before.” [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientists often struggle with new ideas because they attempt to fit them into existing mental frameworks, hindering true understanding. **In simple terms:** New ideas are hard when forced into old ideas. Key Takeaway Embrace fresh perspectives without forcing old analogies. Themes science learning innovation cognition Mood curious reflective analytical Type educational philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research meetings - education - technology development - policy making - public outreach Key Concepts paradigm shift conceptual change cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How can we train minds to accept truly new frameworks? - What methods help break reliance on previous ideas? A Different Perspective Relying on old analogies can oversimplify and misrepresent novel concepts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Branches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/branches/) [Concepts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concepts/) [Contemporary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary/) [Contemporary Scientists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary-scientists-1296668/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [New Concept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-concept-685978/) [New Concepts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-concepts-1296667/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason why](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-why/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-hard-460417/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) ## Related quotes > [New directions in science are launched by new tools much more often than by new concepts. The effect of a concept-driven revolution is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/new-directions-in-science-are-launched-by-new-tools-much-more-often/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [The best thing about science is that hard, empirical answers are always there if you look hard enough. The best thing about religion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/the-best-thing-about-science-is-that-hard-empirical-answers-are/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [“For the man on the street, science and math sound too and soulless. It is hard to appreciate their significance Most of us are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharad-nalawade/for-the-man-on-the-street-science-and-math-sound-too-and-soulless-it/) [Sharad Nalawade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharad-nalawade/) > [“I don't think science is hard to teach because humans aren't ready for it, or because it arose only through a fluke, or because,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-don-t-think-science-is-hard-to-teach-because-humans-aren-t-ready/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [There's this myth that science is hard. But everything is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-hammel/there-s-this-myth-that-science-is-hard-but-everything-is-hard/) [Heidi Hammel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-hammel/) > [This is what makes science so hard, and ultimately so fun. Think of the limits of what we know as a great suite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexei-panshin/this-is-what-makes-science-so-hard-and-ultimately-so-fun-think-of-the/) [Alexei Panshin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexei-panshin/) > [I'm an amateur astronomer, and I practice that hobby a lot. And I'm fascinated by hard science. Hard science is something for me that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-russ/i-m-an-amateur-astronomer-and-i-practice-that-hobby-a-lot-and-i-m/) [Tim Russ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-russ/) > [Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/look-science-is-hard-it-has-a-reputation-of-being-hard-and-the-facts/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [It is an old saying, abundantly justified, that where sciences meet there growth occurs. 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Peace requires a world of new concepts, new definitions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yitzhak-rabin/we-must-think-differently-look-at-things-in-a-different-way-peace/) [Yitzhak Rabin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yitzhak-rabin/) > [At the same time, new concepts and abstractions flow into the picture, taking up the task of describing the universe without reference to such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/at-the-same-time-new-concepts-and-abstractions-flow-into-the-picture/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mathematicians seem to have no difficulty in creating new concepts faster than the old ones become well understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton-lorenz/mathematicians-seem-to-have-no-difficulty-in-creating-new-concepts/) [Edward Norton Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton-lorenz/) > [New concepts should be introduced by the power of imagery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coop/new-concepts-should-be-introduced-by-the-power-of-imagery/) [Douglas Coop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coop/) ## More by Freeman Dyson > [For a physicist mathematics is not just a tool by means of which phenomena can be calculated, it is the main source of concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/for-a-physicist-mathematics-is-not-just-a-tool-by-means-of-which/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [“It is impossible to make real progress in technology without gambling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/it-is-impossible-to-make-real-progress-in-technology-without-gambling/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [“Sanity is, in essence, nothing more than the ability to live in harmony with nature's laws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/sanity-is-in-essence-nothing-more-than-the-ability-to-live-in-harmony/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [“I do not feel like an alien in this universe. 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I can only answer with another question: do you think we are wise enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/you-ask-what-is-the-meaning-or-purpose-of-life-i-can-only-answer-with/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [When World War II came along, which was when I was a teenager, we all expected we would have anthrax bombs and this kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/when-world-war-ii-came-along-which-was-when-i-was-a-teenager-we-all/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [It has become part of the accepted wisdom to say that the twentieth century was the century of physics and the twenty-first century will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/it-has-become-part-of-the-accepted-wisdom-to-say-that-the-twentieth/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Lucky individuals in each generation find technology appropriate to their needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/lucky-individuals-in-each-generation-find-technology-appropriate-to/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [A model is done when nothing else can be taken out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/a-model-is-done-when-nothing-else-can-be-taken-out/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [I am hoping that the scientists and politicians who have been blindly demonizing carbon dioxide for 37 years will one day open their eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/i-am-hoping-that-the-scientists-and-politicians-who-have-been-blindly/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Intelligence may indeed be a benign influence creating isolated groups of philosopher-kings far apart in the heavens... 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McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-mclean/) [Browse all 1,228 Branches quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/branches/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The reason why new concepts in any branch of science are hard to grasp is always the same; contemporary scientists try to picture the new concept in terms of ideas which existed before.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Freeman Dyson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branch-of-science-are-hard-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Branches" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branch-of-science-are-hard-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/freeman-dyson-1435_branches_the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branc_2525816.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/freeman-dyson-1435_branches_the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branc_2525816.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e6/freeman-dyson-1435_branches_the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branc_2525816.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The reason why new concepts in any branch of science are hard to grasp is always the same; contemporary…” — Freeman Dyson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Freeman Dyson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The reason why new concepts in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branch-of-science-are-hard-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-reason-why-new-concepts-in-any-branch-of-science-are-hard-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```