Chronological snobbery

Biological Parallel

Arctic organisms that survived ice ages possess ancient adaptations (antifreeze proteins, extreme metabolic flexibility) that modern temperate species lack. Dismissing these 'old' traits as inferior ignores their tested resilience across climate extremes. Chronological snobbery—assuming newer is better—inverts the logic of evolutionary testing: older solutions have survived more selection pressures and environmental variability. Recency bias evolved in rapidly changing environments where novelty indicated adaptation to current conditions, but this heuristic fails for conserved solutions that prove universally robust.