

The Idea About Ideas - antiform
http://iggychaos.blogspot.com/2006/02/idea-about-ideas.html

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Spyckie
Great post, a bit too long.

Summary -

Ideas do not fall into just good or bad.

a) Dating Julia Roberts is a good idea, but its not feasible.

b) A free email address that has no password or registration is a good idea.
(read the article if you're curious)

4 types of ideas:

a) "The obvious next" - ideas that follow logically from what's currently
existing.

b) "Now we're ready" - ideas that have a certain technology or other
requirement before its possible.

c) "infeasible" - ideas that are good but infeasible because
technology/society/whatever is required not ready (its not a 'b' idea). Also
ideas that have no money making business model fall into this category.

d) luminary ideas - ideas that are unique and original not just to the
thinker, but to the rest of the world too. These are rare.

In short, work off of the 'b' and 'c' ideas, since technology is moving so
fast. 'a' ideas are risky because you're competing with everyone else and a
lot of luck/skill is required, and 'd' is out because lets face it, no one has
them. 'c' ideas quickly become 'b' ideas -

"You merely have to act on them first. Given how fast our technology advances,
it's a good idea to perpetually reconsider infeasible ideas every now and
then. You never know when an infeasible idea might become feasible."

~~~
yters
Given his analysis, it may also be the case that "d" ideas occur quite
frequently, but since they are (by definition) orthogonal to the way most
people think, they do not catch on.

I'd say a lot of this occurs in science fiction and other literature, and
these ideas eventually permeate culture and get turned into actual products.
E.g. submarines, spaceships, robots.

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technoguyrob
I disagree. Beethoven's 5th Symphony doesn't fall into any of those.

1) Definitely not the "next obvious step."

2) The theoretical principles of canons and fugues, etc. were all in place in
the 18th century, but no one but Beethoven could have made the 5th symphony,
or anything close to it.

3) Obviously, nothing to do with infeasibility.

4) Again, not luminary, because no one would ever have though of it.
Contemporary musical style would change, and Beethoven's work would never
exist.

P.S. And if anyone dare try to say the 5th Symphony wasn't an idea, it's
brought a lot more good, happiness (relaxation, concerts, etc.), and wealth
(selling records, etc.) than most startup ideas...

~~~
asdflkj
Once we understand precisely how music affects the mind, it will be clear what
makes the 5th Symphony work, and it will be possible to create its
functionality as "the next obvious step". After all, it's not the sequence of
notes that matters, it's the emotion that it creates. So yes, it's (4).

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mixmax
There's a slight mistake imho. Einsteins theory of relativity is categorised
as a "now we're ready" idea meaning that if he hadn't thought of it somebody
else would have. While this is true for the special theory of relativity
published in 1905 it is not true for the general theory of relativity which
also includes gravity published ten years later.

Many scientists believe that if Einstein hadn't incorporated gravity into the
theory there's a good chance that it would still be undiscovered today.

But aside from that a really worthwhile article.

~~~
Herring
"Many scientists believe that if Einstein hadn't incorporated gravity into the
theory there's a good chance that it would still be undiscovered today."

Actually, no. If you start out with flat spacetime & try to describe massless
spin-2 particles, you'll find gravity falls right out of the equations. It's
quite elegant, really.

~~~
mixmax
Wasn't this only discovered in the 70's or even later?

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mercurio
I wouldn't call "dating Julia Roberts" an idea. By that measure, becoming king
of the world, solving P vs NP, winning Wimbledon, would all be ideas. All
these are goals, not ideas.

------
awt
That color scheme burns my eyes.

~~~
aston
Should burn a lot less than black on white, actually.

~~~
mhb
It does seem like it should, but I don't care for the white on black either.
Maybe it is similar to why it is easier to drive during the daytime vs.
nighttime.

~~~
aston
The real issue is not "burning" but "low-contrast."

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zinxq
Oldie but a goodie. The Lizard Brain post on that blog I think is the best
tho.

