Why New Ideas Are Always Controversial

The world needs new and unique ideas, but people don’t always make it easy for those ideas to flourish. The more creative you are and the more you try to think outside the box, the more pushback you seem to get.

But why? Most people agree that new ideas are good for society, and some of the best examples of human progress come from groundbreaking rather than incremental changes. But when a novel idea is introduced, people can’t seem to agree on whether it’s a good idea or a terrible one. All too often, a person with a bold idea will leave conversations feeling discouraged and avoid following up on their plan.

Research studies are starting to show that this pattern is widespread. Regardless of how good an idea is, its uniqueness will attract a controversial reaction. So let’s dive into how people actually react in experiments and understand why you should be skeptical when people judge your ideas.

Don’t expect consensus on your next big idea

In a 2024 study published in Nature Human Behaviour, researchers ran a series of experiments testing how people judge ideas based on their novelty.

In a first experiment, they recruited 1,927 online participants and asked them to rate the novelty of some business ideas from the show Shark Tank. They defined…