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It sounds to me that you have discovered an important and often underestimated property of disruptive ideas. How did an 18 year old change the way we communicat
by jhuckestein 13y ago
It sounds to me that you have discovered an important and often underestimated property of disruptive ideas. How did an 18 year old change the way we communicate online forever? How could a clerk at the patent office usher in the era of 20th century physics?
It's possible and maybe even easier to have truly breakthrough ideas if you're coming from a different field. You can always catch up on all the knowledge required to execute your idea later.
And yes, often you'll find out that your idea wasn't so great. But at least you didn't dismiss it as out of hand because you didn't come across it in your years of experience in the field.
- hollerith 13y agoIt's wrong to think that Einstein was "coming from a different field". He had a PhD in physics from a good school. In his day, physics jobs were much scarcer, so perfectly ordinary physicists tended to need to get non-physics jobs for parts of their careers.
- danso 13y agoPerhaps a better example is how an aspiring poet came to invent the most effective infantry weapon of the last century: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Kalashnikov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Kalashnikov
- lclarkmichalek 13y agoAn aspiring poet who had also been a tank mechanic/weapons designer for 9~ years prior to inventing the most effective infantry weapon of the last century
- danso 13y agoYes, but he was conscripted in his teens and had begun innovating at that young age.
- agilebyte 13y agoNot sure it is a good analogy. From the article you are referencing he wanted to be an engineer, just an agricultural one. WW2 changed that. Also, he seems to acknowledge the fact that he was standing on the shoulders of giants: But one thing is clear: before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good appreciation of everything that already exists in this field. I myself have had many experiences confirming this to be so.
- jacquesm 13y agoNo, a better example is Elon Musk himself. Paypal, SpaceX, Tesla. That's a pretty good run and I don't think anybody will claim he was an insider to all three industries before he made a significant dent in them.
- driverdan 13y agoIt is extremely rare for someone with little to no knowledge or training in a field to step in and change everything. Anyone claiming to do so should is making extraordinary claims and needs to provide extraordinary evidence.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- zwieback 13y agoTrue, but disruption is extremely rare in mechanical and civil engineering. It's more common in SW and theoretical fields.