The core failure mode here is simple: a 2023 study cannot possibly "inform" a 1965 publication without a time travel device. The notion that Ritchie and Roser's data somehow retroactively influenced Gordon Moore's work is a fundamental breakdown in understanding causality. It's not about validation; it's about the direction of information flow. You can't use future data as input for past research, like trying to use next week's train schedule to explain why yesterday's train was late.