New Delhi, Aug. 3 -- History shows that many of humanity's greatest breakthroughs were initially dismissed as impossible, dangerous or simply too unconventional. Whether it was the idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun, the invention of electricity, or more recently the rise of artificial intelligence, transformative ideas have often faced scepticism before earning acceptance.

It is this deeply human tendency that English philosopher John Locke captured in one of his most enduring observations:

"New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common."

The quote appears in Locke's landmark philosophical work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, first published ...