There's a reality... that the vast majority of science is pure grunt work. Most scientists grind it out... never expecting to discover or invent anything. They're not really trying. They're focused on answering very narrow questions... or on duplicating work others have done... to validate it or not ? That's 99+% of it.
There's another reality... that really groundbreaking ideas in science... are very rare... and just as rare are the people who generate them. Science is about observation... but, many aren't adept at it... even when trying to see what they know they should...
So, innovation in science is more about genuine curiosity tied to mind open observation... that's not limited by the method... but is simply aware and interested when seeing something unusual... enough to proceed in creating an idea to explain it. Most of that happens... sideways... from the objective. The new insight is often in no way connected to the subject of investigation. More about creativity, in that element, than it is about slogging through the routine to the predicted end point ?
It doesn't really matter what you're doing... when you observe something that sparks that creative answer... to a question that wasn't' being asked ? Alchemy is not different than science in that regard... as the first requirement in accomplishing anything useful... is to first just do something. Might having a real and rational purpose in looking at what you're looking at... distract you from observing what is there to see ? Alchemy... seen as the sensory deprivation tank of science... might be a valid way of considering it.
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
A fascinating deep dive on innovation from the New York Times bestselling author of How We Got To Now and Farsighted
The printing press, the pencil, the flush toilet, the battery--these are all great ideas. But where do they come from? What kind of environment breeds them? What sparks the flash of brilliance? How do we generate the breakthrough technologies that push forward our lives, our society, our culture? Steven Johnson's answers are revelatory as he identifies the seven key patterns behind genuine innovation, and traces them across time and disciplines. From Darwin and Freud to the halls of Google and Apple, Johnson investigates the innovation hubs throughout modern time and pulls out the approaches and commonalities that seem to appear at moments of originality.
Aristotelian Freedom: The Art of Judging ~ Addressing the Falsehoods
When we look into the NATURE of something, I think it's kind of like seeing a little more deeply into it, than just looking at what something appears to be, on the surface, or is traditionally defined as. This is a book that explores the core questions. What are the KEY definitions needed TO answer those questions? How do those definitions CHANGE over time? In this book, among other things, we'll look at the deeper meanings inside of certain similar seeming words. WHAT is the basic ROOT question of all, for human beings on earth? Is it not the question of ~ What is the basic root NATURE of a conscious being?? Where does happiness come from? What's the nature of government?? What's the REASON we need one to exist?? When it comes to goodness & evil, is there any universal objective standards that exist, which can truly define them,once & for all, among & for ALL conscious beings, anywhere? These are some of the topics of intellectual depth that are explored here. |
