

Creativity is often spurred by ignorance - darkchyld
http://fsce.in/13Hidhn7

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nlh
This is so true. I've seen it with my own experience -- had I know what I know
today about the industry I'm in, I probably wouldn't have started my business.
But a decade ago, I knew nothing, and, well, ignorance was bliss (and worked!)

I think this is also, to some extent, why Silicon Valley seems to favor young
entrepreneurs -- not because youth has some fundamental "betterness" to it,
but because when a seasoned vet gives 100 ways an idea can fail (because he's
seen them happen), an idealistic entrepreneur waves them away -- "bah - not an
issue."

They're both right to some extent -- there are 100, 1000, 10000 ways an idea
can fail, and the more you know, the more reasons you can come up with to
avoid starting. But people still start crazy businesses, people still take
risks, and entrepreneurs still do their thing with blissful reckless abandon
(as they should!) :)

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hedgew
This is misleading. They were wrong in two cases.

1\. They underestimated the difficulty and cost of the project.

2\. They underestimated the profitability of the project.

Had their estimations been more accurate, they would have realized that it
would have been profitable even at 10x the original estimate.

They got lucky. Someone with more accurate estimates would have gotten the
funding and succeeded as well - but had the project been unprofitable, his
more accurate estimates would have steered him away from it.

While ignorance may lead to more attempts on average, it will also create less
value in the long term, as more of those attempts will fail. An entrepreneur
with better knowledge is more likely to succeed.

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xyzzy123
I dunno, maybe the factories would have relocated had the route not been
there. Minmax finds a way.

However, the general point about creativity remains, and I find myself relying
every day on free software projects which would not have been engaged in by an
economically rational individual.

