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The idea that ideas have no value is prima facie ridiculous. The reason we aren't just a slightly odd species of chimpanzees is that we developed the ability to
by jnicholasp 10y ago
The idea that ideas have no value is prima facie ridiculous. The reason we aren't just a slightly odd species of chimpanzees is that we developed the ability to produce ideas. Ideas are the only thing of fundamental value to us as an intelligent species.
The statement that ideas don't matter, only execution matters, can only apply among sets of trivial ideas that don't change the landscape. Yes, if you want to make Facebook for Farmers, that's an idea that is completely interchangeable with hundreds of other equally trivial ideas, and it doesn't matter which one you choose so much as how well you execute on it. But if you have a genuinely significant idea, something that can fundamentally alter the landscape or advance humanity, then execution is secondary, and, in fact, lots of different people or organizations could implement it. That isn't to say that you can't screw up the execution and fail thereby, but the limiting factor to success is different for trivial ideas vs significant ideas: there are thousands of trivials and the major factor of success is how well you execute the one you choose; there are few significants, and the major factor in success is having them first/getting to market first. If you think you have one of the latter, NDAs might make sense.
- googletazer 10y ago>Ideas are the only thing of fundamental value to us as an intelligent species. I'm sorry but you're wrong. Its not ideas that are the only thing of fundamental value... information might come close. Ideas + experimentation to validate them + implementation is where its at. An idea by itself without execution is a fantasy.
- jnicholasp 10y ago> Ideas are the only thing of fundamental value to us as an intelligent species. In my usage, 'information' describes patterns that exist in the universe, and 'ideas', at least loosely, describes the apprehension of one or more of those inherent patterns by an intelligent mind. An idea is the mental perception or conception of external information. Information might be fundamental to the universe, but ideas are fundamental to intelligent minds, being the lens through and by which we perceive everything. My point, though, was mostly that it's false that ideas have no value - I wasn't trying to make the complete opposite error and say that execution has no value. Of course to make something happen in the world you need execution as well as something to execute.
- Kalium 10y agoThe reason we aren't just a slightly odd species of chimpanzees is that we developed the ability execute on ideas. Otherwise we're low-hair primates thinking about maybe fire.
- jnicholasp 10y ago> Ideas are the only thing of fundamental value to us as an intelligent species. I'm not arguing that execution has no value. Obviously ideas, particularly business/startup ideas, must be acted on effectively in order to become real. But: ideas are logically prior to execution; the ability to conceive of abstract ideas is a far larger developmental step than is the subsequent ability to act on those ideas; and being able to have abstract ideas is the thing that most definitively separates homo sapiens from all other species on Earth.
- MaxfordAndSons 10y agoI agree with what you're saying here, but the argument isn't about the the value of ideas with regards to our species's success, but rather about the value of ideas with regards to a given businesses's success.
- jnicholasp 10y agoThe original argument was about business success, and that's what my original comment was mostly about. But the reply to my original comment that I was replying to here, seemed to be taking the argument toward the general success of our species, and that's what I was responding to (although I did note even within that context how it related to business success).