rules of thumb

I have a problem with rules of thumb.  Yes, they are often useful, but they can lead to apathy.  Take, for example, "there is nothing new under the sun."  Well, yes, except there has to have been a first time. 


As language came about, there was a first person to say "I love you"; there was a first person to tell a story; there was a first person to tell a joke.  As music came about, there was a first person to discover that a perfect fifth is pleasing; there was a first person to discover the eight tone western scale; there was a first person to come up with the pentatonic blues.


Now, that's 6 out of the estimated 106.5 billion homo sapiens who have ever lived on the earth.  There are many more firsts than that, but still an insignificant amount, so the rule of thumb still stands.  


But then there is my second problem: rules of thumb can lead to apathy.  If I decide that "nothing new under the sun" holds universal, then what motivates me to come up with the next thing?  What is there to drive discovery?  Art and invention are driven by a rejection of this rule of thumb, at least subconsciously, if not consciously.


Perhaps most important is the search for truth.  There would be no search for truth if people did not reject the idea that there is nothing new.


Will everyone who looks for the new find it?  Is everything that seems new actually new?  Does new necessarily mean valuable?  What is gained by the search for the new, if the end goal is not realized?