One possible story is wider-spread literacy, (cheap paper, cheap printing) followed by obsessive note-taking, letter writing, and proto-bureaucratic thinking. I’m reading the history of the Jesuits right now, and it is clear that the entire endeavor is printing press + cheap paper = new social movement. Could we think of “science” and “practical tinkering” as two of these new social movements which yielded a lot of return?
To speak more generally about what I think you’re pointing at, step function improvements in communication + coordination tech seems to be essential to breakthroughs in other kinds of tech.
A lot of people point at the existence of Four Industrial Revolutions so far:
First Industrial Revolution: Coal in 1765
Second Industrial Revolution: Gas in 1870
Third Industrial Revolution: Electronics and Nuclear in 1969
Fourth Industrial Revolution: Internet and Renewable Energy in 2000
I’m wondering if any of these would have taken off at a global scale without the invention of the...
Postal system in the 1700s
Electric telegraph + industrial printing presses
Radio, TV, and telephone
E-mail and all the different chat and collective intelligence tools that have emerged
To reference Anton Howe’s piece from earlier this year, innovation doesn’t seem to be human nature.
Perhaps the proliferation of tech that sufficiently spreads inspiring ideas—like “XYZ is possible!”—is what leads people to decide to innovate anyway, against their conservative nature.
Yes, any major improvement in a fundamental area—not only in communication, or more broadly in information technology, but also in energy, manufacturing, materials, or transportation—will have ripple effects throughout the entire economy.
I think that’s a little too reductionist.
CACE: CHANGE ANYTHING CHANGE EVERYTHING. It
is certainly true, but trivially true. The question is more like how much does a change in literacy result in a change in technology, rather than are the two related. Basically everything is related within the topics of science, innovation, and the intellectual life.
I take Gary’s point to be relative. Were communication advancements necessary, while obviously not sufficient, prerequisites for the energy revolutions which followed? Can we make a causal diagram which flows from advances in communication in the 17th century and 18th century to advances in technology?
Personally I’d be extremely surprised if it were the case even a diminished form, but it’s a very interesting hypothesis to try and disprove.
One possible story is wider-spread literacy, (cheap paper, cheap printing) followed by obsessive note-taking, letter writing, and proto-bureaucratic thinking. I’m reading the history of the Jesuits right now, and it is clear that the entire endeavor is printing press + cheap paper = new social movement. Could we think of “science” and “practical tinkering” as two of these new social movements which yielded a lot of return?
I like this.
To speak more generally about what I think you’re pointing at, step function improvements in communication + coordination tech seems to be essential to breakthroughs in other kinds of tech.
A lot of people point at the existence of Four Industrial Revolutions so far:
First Industrial Revolution: Coal in 1765
Second Industrial Revolution: Gas in 1870
Third Industrial Revolution: Electronics and Nuclear in 1969
Fourth Industrial Revolution: Internet and Renewable Energy in 2000
I’m wondering if any of these would have taken off at a global scale without the invention of the...
Postal system in the 1700s
Electric telegraph + industrial printing presses
Radio, TV, and telephone
E-mail and all the different chat and collective intelligence tools that have emerged
To reference Anton Howe’s piece from earlier this year, innovation doesn’t seem to be human nature.
Perhaps the proliferation of tech that sufficiently spreads inspiring ideas—like “XYZ is possible!”—is what leads people to decide to innovate anyway, against their conservative nature.
Yes, any major improvement in a fundamental area—not only in communication, or more broadly in information technology, but also in energy, manufacturing, materials, or transportation—will have ripple effects throughout the entire economy.
I think that’s a little too reductionist. CACE: CHANGE ANYTHING CHANGE EVERYTHING. It is certainly true, but trivially true. The question is more like how much does a change in literacy result in a change in technology, rather than are the two related. Basically everything is related within the topics of science, innovation, and the intellectual life.
I take Gary’s point to be relative. Were communication advancements necessary, while obviously not sufficient, prerequisites for the energy revolutions which followed? Can we make a causal diagram which flows from advances in communication in the 17th century and 18th century to advances in technology?
Personally I’d be extremely surprised if it were the case even a diminished form, but it’s a very interesting hypothesis to try and disprove.