Ideas don't just get proven right or wrong, they clash and merge into something new
Hegel described historical and philosophical progress as a process where an idea (a 'thesis') meets its opposite (an 'antithesis'), and their tension resolves into a richer idea (a 'synthesis') that becomes the next thesis, repeating endlessly. This neat three-step version is actually a popularized simplification, historians note Hegel rarely used those exact terms himself, borrowing more fluid language about ideas being preserved and transformed rather than simply defeated.