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It tells me that knowledge takes time to propagate.

Good math is universal, which means it's probably been discovered millions of times across the universe.

The propagation time is the interesting part. Critical slowing down was in physics textbooks by the 1970s. Ecology didn't import it until 2003 — via a chance conversation at a conference bar. Cardiology took until the 1990s. The FDA approved the resulting cardiac test in 2001.

That's not normal diffusion. Those are 30-year gaps for math with direct life-safety applications. The paper asks why, and finds structural explanations in how we organize knowledge.

Do you consider the possibility that the knowledge was intentionally suppressed, the seed poisoned, or Ego driven suppression? Simply looking at things clinically can obscure intentional deception, to slow progress. The concept is called an information hazard.

Consider during the cold war, that the U.S. created fake nuclear designs, then allowed them to fall into the hands of the KGB. The KGB and Russian nuclear engineers then wasted significant time trying to build nuclear devices that failed to work, and could have been dangerous.

How much knowledge propagation (or creation) can be attributed to chance conversations at bars?

The bar scene of "A Beautiful Mind" comes to mind.

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