Tendency to reject new evidence that contradicts established norms or beliefs.
Named for Semmelweis, who showed in 1847 that handwashing cut childbed fever mortality sharply, was rejected by the profession, and died in an asylum; germ theory arrived twenty years later. The term itself is documented in Timothy Leary's The Game of Life in 1979, with related material credited to Robert Anton Wilson.
In practice
- A junior doctor who reports that the new checklist is being signed before the check is done is told the checklist has been validated.
- A field engineer who reports that the approved procedure causes the fault is reassigned, and the procedure is changed four years later by someone senior.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Psychology & Behavior
- Essay
- A century and a half of measuring the mind