Numerical answer
The four sentences below, numbered 1–4, can be arranged into a coherent paragraph. Enter the correct order as a four-digit number (e.g., 3142).
1. Economists call this phenomenon path dependence, and it explains outcomes that look irrational only if one ignores the history that produced them.
2. The standard keyboard layout, QWERTY, was originally designed to slow typists down and prevent mechanical jamming in early typewriters.
3. Yet once millions of people had learned to type on it, the cost of retraining an entire workforce made switching to a more efficient layout impractical, regardless of its technical merits.
4. That original constraint became irrelevant once typewriters were replaced by computers, but the layout itself persisted long after its original justification had disappeared.
1. Economists call this phenomenon path dependence, and it explains outcomes that look irrational only if one ignores the history that produced them.
2. The standard keyboard layout, QWERTY, was originally designed to slow typists down and prevent mechanical jamming in early typewriters.
3. Yet once millions of people had learned to type on it, the cost of retraining an entire workforce made switching to a more efficient layout impractical, regardless of its technical merits.
4. That original constraint became irrelevant once typewriters were replaced by computers, but the layout itself persisted long after its original justification had disappeared.
Show answer and solution
Answer: 2431
Sentence 2 introduces the specific case (QWERTY's original purpose). Sentence 4 explains that the original justification vanished with computers, yet the layout persisted. Sentence 3 explains why it persisted (retraining costs). Sentence 1 draws the general conceptual conclusion (path dependence) that the specific example illustrates. Order: 2 (origin) → 4 (justification disappears, layout persists) → 3 (why it persists despite that) → 1 (general principle named), giving 2-4-3-1.
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