One of the more fascinating stories in Matt Ridley’s “How Innovation Works” was about the humble potato.
Potatoes were initially banned in countries like England because clergyman didn’t believe they were fit to be eaten as they were not mentioned in the Bible.
That wasn’t all – potatoes had to overcome other prejudices. For example, there was a prevailing belief at the time that vegetables had an effect on the body based on how they looked. For example, walnuts look like the brain – so they were presumably good for the brain.
Potatoes, however, looked like a finger with leprosy, and thus there was a belief they might cause leprosy. As a result of such beliefs, the potato spread faster in India and China in the 1600s vs. continental Europe and North America.
It took over 200 years for these prejudices to be dropped. Even after that, it took a lot of marketing for potatoes to catch up in countries like France. For example, it took one passionate potato lover to embark on what was effectively “influencer marketing” with the queen Marie Antoinette. This marketing campaign also included stunts like planting potatoes in the outskirts of Paris and having armed guards patrol it in the morning to spark curiosity.
Eventually, the potato was adopted and there was no turning back… but this story serves as a powerful reminder of the power of prejudice and limiting beliefs.
It isn’t a story limited to the 1600s either. We can simply pick any politicized issue today – vaccines, electric vehicles, nuclear power, and so on. The same dynamics are still at play.
History doesn’t repeat, but it sure does rhyme.
