> I think it's a sign of the times that people are kind of forgetful that this is an area in which we could advance - either insisting the status quo is somehow the best possible or even completely god-given natural or insisting that the answer is really obvious and doesn't require deep thought, research, and experimentation.

It feels like the actual problem is that the status quo is so entrenched, people have a hard time imagining how to unseat it.

Consider the last few successful Presidential election campaigns. Hope and Change. Drain the Swamp. Biden's uninspired but ultimately successful strategy of running against the incumbent rather than for anything in particular. People keep voting for "we don't like what's currently happening" and the system keeps running them over.

Or maybe the problem is actually this:

> require deep thought, research, and experimentation

These are the things that the status quo robustly impedes.

Tweet firehose social media feeds and fragmented leadership.

Research funded by the entity under study or the politicians interested in manufacturing support for a predetermined policy rather than trying to find out something we don't already know.

Federal laws or even corporate-bought international treaties preventing local governments or private citizens from trying something new because the something new might solve a problem someone doesn't want anybody solving.

You're tasked with changing the system while operating under the system that evolved to perpetuate itself.

Which isn't to say that it can't be done, but it's easy to see why people are nonplussed.