Just finished reading an article by sci-fi author Neal Stephenson, called Innovation Starvation, on what he sees as the death of true, large-scale, paradigm shift innovation and problem solving of the kind seen in previous, on the face of it less technologically advanced generations; a stagnation he blames on the (perceived) 'perfect' information we have in the digital age, and how the 'certainty' this delivers kills risk taking - we know everything so do nothing.
As he concludes in his final paragraph...
"Today’s belief in ineluctable certainty is the true innovation-killer of our age. In this environment, the best an audacious manager can do is to develop small improvements to existing systems—climbing the hill, as it were, toward a local maximum, trimming fat, eking out the occasional tiny innovation—like city planners painting bicycle lanes on the streets as a gesture toward solving our energy problems. Any strategy that involves crossing a valley—accepting short-term losses to reach a higher hill in the distance—will soon be brought to a halt by the demands of a system that celebrates short-term gains and tolerates stagnation, but condemns anything else as failure. In short, a world where big stuff can never get done."
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