“Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good”

Simplified Meaning:

Over the past thirty years, many changes in Western society replaced effective solutions with ideas that seemed promising but didn’t work as well. Imagine a school that had a great system for teaching children how to read. It produced excellent readers. Then, someone suggested a new method that sounded exciting and modern. The school replaced the old method with this new one. However, the new approach didn't work as effectively, and children struggled more with reading. This pattern is often seen in various parts of life, like when governments or businesses adopt new policies because they sound appealing, but don’t consider the long-term effects. For example, a company might change its customer service policy to a new approach that customers initially like the sound of, but it turns out making the service slower or less effective. To apply this idea in your life, carefully consider whether the new things you try actually improve the situation. Sometimes, sticking to what already works well might be better than jumping to what sounds like a good idea without thoroughly testing it.