Editing Path dependence (section)

==Other examples==
*A general type of path dependence is a typological [[Vestigiality|vestige]].
**In [[typography]], for example, some customs persist, although the reason for their existence no longer applies; for example, the placement of the period inside a [[Quotation mark|quotation]] in U.S. spelling. In [[movable type|metal type]], pieces of terminal punctuation, such as the comma and period, are comparatively small and delicate (as they must be [[x-height]] for proper [[kerning]].) Placing the full-height quotation mark on the outside protected the smaller [[sort (typesetting)|cast metal sort]] from damage if the word needed to be moved around within or between lines. This would be done even if the period did not belong to the text being quoted.
*[[Evolution]] is considered by some to be path-dependent and historically [[contingency (evolutionary biology)|contingent]]: mutations occurring in the past have had long-term effects on current life forms, some of which may no longer be adaptive to current conditions. For instance, there is a controversy about whether the [[Sesamoid bone#In other animals|panda's thumb]] is a leftover trait or not.
*In the [[computer]] and [[software]] markets, [[legacy system]]s indicate path dependence: customers' needs in the present market often include the ability to read data or run programs from past generations of products. Thus, for instance, a customer may need not merely the best available [[word processor]], but rather the best available word processor that can read [[Microsoft Word]] files. Such limitations in [[Backward compatibility|compatibility]] contribute to lock-in, and more subtly, to design compromises for independently developed products, if they attempt to be compatible. Also see [[embrace, extend and extinguish]].
*In socioeconomic systems, commercial fisheries' harvest rates and conservation consequences are found to be path dependent as predicted by the interaction between slow institutional adaptation, fast ecological dynamics, and diminishing returns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tekwa|first1=Edward W.|last2=Fenichel|first2=Eli P.|last3=Levin|first3=Simon A.|last4=Pinsky|first4=Malin L.|date=2019-01-08|title=Path-dependent institutions drive alternative stable states in conservation|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=116|issue=2|pages=689–694|doi=10.1073/pnas.1806852116|issn=0027-8424|pmc=6329967|pmid=30567975|bibcode=2019PNAS..116..689T |doi-access=free}}</ref>
*In physics and mathematics, a [[non-holonomic system]] is a [[physical system]] in which the states depend on the physical paths taken.<ref name="Bryant06">{{cite conference
 | last = Bryant | first = Robert L.
 | contribution = Geometry of manifolds with special holonomy: '100 years of holonomy'
 | doi = 10.1090/conm/395/07414
 | mr = 2206889
 | pages = 29–38
 | publisher = American Mathematical Society | location = Providence, RI
 | series = Contemporary Mathematics
 | title = 150 years of mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis
 | volume = 395
 | year = 2006| doi-access = free
 | isbn = 978-0-8218-3603-3
 }}</ref>