The Lindy effect predicts that old ideas will outlive new ones

The Lindy effect, popularised by Nassim Taleb, states that the future life expectancy of non-perishable things (ideas, technologies, institutions) is proportional to their current age. A book that has been in print for 50 years will probably be in print for another 50; a book published last month may be forgotten by next year. The logic: things that have survived a long time have demonstrated robustness against the pressures that kill most things. New technologies, management fashions, and political ideologies have not yet been tested. This makes ancient wisdom — Stoic philosophy, double-entry bookkeeping, compound interest — unusually reliable.

Source: Taleb, N.N., Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Penguin, 2012)