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The Idea About Ideas
- mixmax 19y agoThere's a slight mistake imho. Einsteins theory of relativity is categorised as a "now we're ready" idea meaning that if he hadn't thought of it somebody else would have. While this is true for the special theory of relativity published in 1905 it is not true for the general theory of relativity which also includes gravity published ten years later. Many scientists believe that if Einstein hadn't incorporated gravity into the theory there's a good chance that it would still be undiscovered today. But aside from that a really worthwhile article.
- deleted 19y ago[deleted]
- foonamefoo 19y agoEver hear of Hilbert?
- mixmax 19y agoYes - and Hilberts contribution to general relativity theory primarily sprung from a seminar held in 1915 where Einstein and Hilbert elaborated on the theory, leading among other things to the Einstein field equations and Einstein-Hilbert action. What this means is that Hilbert helped elaborate on the theory, and worked out some of the kinks. Not to dismiss Hilbert, but the idea was Einsteins' and his alone.
- gregwebs 19y agoHe classified it as the "obvious next" and qualified it as possibly a "luminary"
- mixmax 19y agoehm, no. He says that he can't think of any luminary ideas and goes on to say this: "If we can theorize that if Einstein had never existed it would have been 50 years (or 100 years or whatever you like) before someone else thought it up - we can probably classify it as luminary." He doesn't say that the idea is luminary, he is simply lacking an example and theorises on the Einstein idea.
- Herring 19y ago"Many scientists believe that if Einstein hadn't incorporated gravity into the theory there's a good chance that it would still be undiscovered today." Actually, no. If you start out with flat spacetime & try to describe massless spin-2 particles, you'll find gravity falls right out of the equations. It's quite elegant, really.
- mixmax 19y agoWasn't this only discovered in the 70's or even later?
- Spyckie 19y agoGreat post, a bit too long. Summary - Ideas do not fall into just good or bad. a) Dating Julia Roberts is a good idea, but its not feasible. b) A free email address that has no password or registration is a good idea. (read the article if you're curious) 4 types of ideas: a) "The obvious next" - ideas that follow logically from what's currently existing. b) "Now we're ready" - ideas that have a certain technology or other requirement before its possible. c) "infeasible" - ideas that are good but infeasible because technology/society/whatever is required not ready (its not a 'b' idea). Also ideas that have no money making business model fall into this category. d) luminary ideas - ideas that are unique and original not just to the thinker, but to the rest of the world too. These are rare. In short, work off of the 'b' and 'c' ideas, since technology is moving so fast. 'a' ideas are risky because you're competing with everyone else and a lot of luck/skill is required, and 'd' is out because lets face it, no one has them. 'c' ideas quickly become 'b' ideas - "You merely have to act on them first. Given how fast our technology advances, it's a good idea to perpetually reconsider infeasible ideas every now and then. You never know when an infeasible idea might become feasible."
- yters 19y agoGiven his analysis, it may also be the case that "d" ideas occur quite frequently, but since they are (by definition) orthogonal to the way most people think, they do not catch on. I'd say a lot of this occurs in science fiction and other literature, and these ideas eventually permeate culture and get turned into actual products. E.g. submarines, spaceships, robots.
- awt 19y agoThat color scheme burns my eyes.
- aston 19y agoShould burn a lot less than black on white, actually.
- technoguyrob 19y agoI disagree. Beethoven's 5th Symphony doesn't fall into any of those. 1) Definitely not the "next obvious step." 2) The theoretical principles of canons and fugues, etc. were all in place in the 18th century, but no one but Beethoven could have made the 5th symphony, or anything close to it. 3) Obviously, nothing to do with infeasibility. 4) Again, not luminary, because no one would ever have though of it. Contemporary musical style would change, and Beethoven's work would never exist. P.S. And if anyone dare try to say the 5th Symphony wasn't an idea, it's brought a lot more good, happiness (relaxation, concerts, etc.), and wealth (selling records, etc.) than most startup ideas...
- asdflkj 19y agoOnce we understand precisely how music affects the mind, it will be clear what makes the 5th Symphony work, and it will be possible to create its functionality as "the next obvious step". After all, it's not the sequence of notes that matters, it's the emotion that it creates. So yes, it's (4).
- zinxq 19y agoOldie but a goodie. The Lizard Brain post on that blog I think is the best tho.
- mercurio 19y agoI wouldn't call "dating Julia Roberts" an idea. By that measure, becoming king of the world, solving P vs NP, winning Wimbledon, would all be ideas. All these are goals, not ideas.