Evolution is a main theme of this website. Steven Johnson is a writer I enjoy reading. His book “Where Good Ideas Come From” explains the need for innovation hubs where people can bring their ideas and share them with others. Hubs themselves have evolved from local coffee houses to major centres like Silicon Valley in the US and Silicon Dragon in China.
This YouTube video is worth watching.
Johnson makes a couple of interesting points. The first is the Slow Hunch. Eureka moments are rare; it takes time for an idea to germinate in one’s mind.
The second is the Adjacent Possible. This suggestive name comes from complexity scientist Stuart Kauffman. Don’t be frustrated if your brilliant idea isn’t immediately accepted. The timing may not be right because it requires the arrival of other ideas for innovation to actually occur. An example is Ford’s Model T automobile. It took the US Government to build public roads and Standard Oil to construct gas stations along the roads. The car by itself wasn’t useful but the combination led to an innovative breakthrough in transportation.
The second video is a longer TED presentation.
Miningdifferently.com is a virtual hub. Will we be successful in bringing about evolutionary change in mining? It will largely depend on readers like you to share ideas, collide, incubate, and take combos to the next step. I hope you will join us on the journey. Comments below are welcomed.
