> It's not merely that the returns from following a path are hard to predict. They change dramatically over time. 1830 was a really good time to be obsessively

> It's not merely that the returns from following a path are hard to predict. They change dramatically over time. 1830 was a really good time to be obsessively interested in natural history. If Darwin had been born in 1709 instead of 1809, we might never have heard of him. This risk might be somewhat mitigated by the changing level of societal interest in different areas over time serving as a guide to interesting fields of study. If Darwin had been born earlier, surrounded by an entirely different set of books, writings, and people, he might also have been a lot less likely to be interested in natural history.