This is akin to how a society comes to understand something and why genius ideas sometimes take so long to become accepted. I believe "context" is the underlying principle here.<p>Arthur Schopenhauer said, "All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as self-evident."<p>If you present a truth to someone whom doesn't have sufficient context for what you are saying, it may seem outrageous and ridiculous to them because the gap between their understanding and the insight you presenting is too great.<p>They would have to build up their understanding of the context around it until it expands to a point where they find a connection to what they already know. Then they can start to relate to it and eventually they may see it as self evident.<p>Jeff Jonas has a great metaphor for explaining context in terms of puzzle pieces and how it relates to big data (see this short TechCrunchTV segment - <a href="http://www.techcrunch.tv/watch/s4ZnZyMTrtWTaKSxWF2WEPPXkBtMjZc3#ooid=s4ZnZyMTrtWTaKSxWF2WEPPXkBtMjZc3" rel="nofollow">http://www.techcrunch.tv/watch/s4ZnZyMTrtWTaKSxWF2WEPPXkBtMj...</a>).<p>This is how Richard Feynman approached problem solving -- he wanted to connect new ideas to what he already understood and understand the context of everything around it:<p>"It's not quite true that Feynman could not accept an idea until he had torn it apart. Rather, the idea could not yet be part of his way of thinking and looking at the world. Before an idea could contribute to that worldview, Feynman wanted to turn over the idea, to see why it was true, from any angle that he could find...In other words, he wanted to connect a new idea to what he already understood and thereby extend his understanding" (<a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/04/08/how-richard-feynman-thought/" rel="nofollow">http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/04/08/how-richard-feynman-t...</a>).<p>Once you surround a new concept with enough puzzle pieces, it attaches to what you already know and then eventually it becomes obvious.