Why does an early assumption keep shaping the work?
Path dependence
Earlier choices can alter the options, incentives or costs of later choices. History can matter even when better alternatives remain.
An everyday example
A chat starts by assuming you need an app. Later turns optimize the app, while a simpler spreadsheet is never considered.
Original illustration, not an observed participant case.
Where the idea stops
This chat example is an analogy to work on historical economic processes. It does not prove later conversational directions are impossible.
Something to try
Start a fresh note with the desired outcome and constraints, leaving out the proposed solution. Generate two different approaches.
Practise on a fictional case →Go deeper: the builder’s view
For builders: keep decision records and explicit checkpoints for reopening assumptions. A transcript records turns, not the reasons every alternative was omitted.
Source and interpretation
This is a plain-language interpretation with an applied example; it is not a quotation or an endorsement from the source.
Arthur — Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events (1989) ↗Catalog v0.1 · checked 2026-10-29