This effect can not be over stated. Plantation owners never invented the cotton gin in spite of the vast numbers of them and decades of cotton raising. I suspe

This effect can not be over stated. Plantation owners never invented the cotton gin in spite of the vast numbers of them and decades of cotton raising. I suspect there were additional social issues at play as well. For example, plantation owners, being at the top of the social hierarchy have less incentive to invent. Also that tier typically views tinkering and mechanics as lower status and so would avoid it on principle: prestige was based on land size and number of other people owned. Certainly not number of new ideas.