I have often thought about similar topics. Chapter 7 of my book touches on it, especially the roles of contingency and incumbency in biology and technology (Gould's theme).
Some observations: We do, in fact, reboot the world every century or so. We have to. Technology does not last, and must be rebuilt and replaced, albeit not all from scratch. Very few buildings or machines last longer than 200 years. They mention the QWERTY keyboard. The advantages of other keyboards have been exaggerated according to some authors. Keyboards are likely to be replaced for most applications with voice input, so we will reboot that. The talk about electric power generation and the advantages of distributed generation. This is gradually coming into use. They talk about decimal clocks. The French introduced them with the decimal system, but later abandoned them. There are some advantages of the 60 second minute and 60 minute hour. The second is a natural sequence for humans because it is the average pulse. 60 is a wonderful number. Older units such as inches and feet have many advantages that we sometimes lose sight of. These units are convenient for people working without precision instruments or modern tools. U.S. and Japanese carpenters use them for this reason. The other day, a fellow cutting up a fallen tree at my house measured the length of the tree in feet by walking along it placing one foot just in front of another -- measuring it in feet. One yard is the distance from your hand to your chest. The 12 inches in a foot is another wonderful number, being divisible by 2, 3, 4 and 6. As much as I favor change and innovation, I am also acutely aware that we do not remember more than a fraction of what our ancestors knew. Most knowledge is lost. Quoting myself: The staff at the University of Manchester built a one-third scale working replica of a 1712 Newcomen steam engine. They gained new respect for Newcomen’s original genius. They wrote, "the true functions of the key components were fully understood and their relationship to the operation of the engine appreciated." (D. Cardwell) Our ancestors often set things up for good reasons which we have forgotten. If we abandon their technology or methods we will find out why they did these things, often at our peril. This is a key principal of the conservative outlook, and there is much to be said for it. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. On the other hand, some customs continue for no good reason, because we forgot or never know how they came about. See the modern parable of the leg of lamb: http://allisonreynolds.com/blog/me-anderings/the-leg-of-lamb-a-modern-parable/ - Jed
