For better or worse STEM in the English speaking world is still slightly stuck in the empiricist mindframe where inventing new technology and discovering new th

For better or worse STEM in the English speaking world is still slightly stuck in the empiricist mindframe where inventing new technology and discovering new things by observation is the main method of advancement. This creates a bit of a blind spot for stuff like mathematics where a good idea can continue to be used and be improved on for ages, or in physics where some of the most groundbreaking stuff in the 20th century was not found by observation but by thought experiment. There's a lot that can be gained by recognising and reusing the same good idea for centuries, but it is not really 'progress' in the 'discovering / building new stuff' sense.