I don’t understand what this means, nor its connection with its amplifying paragraph. (I do know what Lindy means.) Does “the norm” refer to the existing norm or the one that the naive reasoner has just thought up?
It refers to the existing norm. The author is saying that a recently developed norm is likely less load-bearing than a long-existing one, so the attempt to abolish it is less likely to be flawed.
I don’t understand what this means, nor its connection with its amplifying paragraph. (I do know what Lindy means.) Does “the norm” refer to the existing norm or the one that the naive reasoner has just thought up?
It refers to the existing norm. The author is saying that a recently developed norm is likely less load-bearing than a long-existing one, so the attempt to abolish it is less likely to be flawed.