I met with a state agency that is reviewing some changes in the way they allow state statutes to be met and are effectively moving from a paper-based approach to an electronic one. In this discussion, it became apparent that the "way we do it is the way we do because that's the way we do it."And, on a broader point, to me, it illustrated how people's capacity to change is somehow limited by their ability to forget the past. In a conversation about moving to an electronic medium, many questions were related to how to print a paper version, even if there are multiple electronic versions.
Related - I guess - is a state process where to file a form electronically where you file a three-page form electronically AND mail a one-page, signed form that states that you filed electronically vs. filing a two-page form through the mail.
It boggles my mind to think that so much time and effort is spent on paper and ways we did it yesterday. I guess two good examples are that the width of our roads and the width of our rail tracks in this country are based upon the yoke width of a Roman chariot and that many of our first paved roads were former cowpaths.
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