The moment we started to believe in innovation
Innovation has become commonplace.
And we are not talking about such modern “innovations” as ray tracing technology on Nvidia’s RTX video cards or 50-fold zoom in the new Huawei smartphone. These things are more useful to marketers than users. It's about real innovations, which greatly changed our approach and outlook on life.
For 500 years, and especially in the last 200 years, human life has been constantly transformed under the influence of new ideas, inventions and discoveries. And this is a fairly short period for human history. Prior to this, development seemed very slow and unhurried, especially from a 21st century person.
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In the modern world, the main constant is change. Some of the statements of 15 years ago, which at one time were quite normal, can now be perceived by people as something inappropriate or offensive. Part of the profile literature 10 years ago is no longer considered relevant, and seeing an electric car on the road is already considered the norm not only in developed countries.
We are accustomed to the destruction of traditions, to revolutionary technologies and to constant information about new discoveries, which so far are little understood. We are confident that science and technology are not standing still, and we believe that in the future we are waiting for new discoveries and innovations. But why are we so sure of this? When did we start believing in technology and scientific research methods? What was the cause?
In my opinion, Yuval Noi Harari reveals these questions in sufficient detail in his book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind” (I think that it is worth reading each sapiens). Therefore, this text will largely rely on some of its judgments.
Throughout its history, people constantly recorded empirical observations, but their value was low, because people believed that all the really necessary knowledge of humanity had already been received from ancient philosophers and prophets. For centuries, the most important way to acquire knowledge was the study and execution of existing traditions. Why waste time searching for new answers if we already have all the answers?
Loyalty to tradition was the only chance to return the glorious past. The inventions could only slightly improve the traditional way of life, but they tried not to encroach upon the traditions themselves. Because of this worship of the past, many ideas and inventions were considered a manifestation of pride and were discarded at the root. Even if the great philosophers and prophets of the past could not solve the problem of hunger and mora, then how can we?
Probably many people know stories about Icarus, the Tower of Babel or the Golem. They taught that any attempt to go beyond a person’s limits would have terrible consequences. If you did not have any knowledge, then you most likely turned to a wiser person, and did not try to find the answers yourself. Yes, and curiosity (recalling “eat an apple”) was not particularly honored in some cultures.
No one needed to discover what no one knew before. Why should I understand the device of the spider's web or the functioning of our immune system, if the ancient sages and scientists did not consider this something important and did not write about it?
As a result, for a long period, people lived inside this vacuum of traditions and ancient knowledge, without even thinking that their worldview was rather limited. But then we made one of the most important discoveries that marked the beginning of a scientific revolution — ignorance. “I don't know” is perhaps one of the most important phrases in our story that prompted us to look for answers. The idea that people do not know the answers to the most important questions made us change our attitude to existing knowledge.
The lack of answers was considered a manifestation of weakness and this position has not yet disappeared. Some people still do not recognize their ignorance in certain issues and present themselves as “experts” just not to be from the position of the weak. Even if it can be difficult for modern people to say “I don't know,” it is difficult to imagine what it was like in a society where all the questions were already answered.
Of course, statements about human ignorance were in antiquity. Suffice it to recall the phrase “I know that I know nothing,” attributed to Socrates. But the massive recognition of ignorance, which led to a passion for discoveries, appeared a little later - with the discovery of a whole continent, which, by chance or error, was named after the traveler Amerigo Vespucci.
Here is a map of Fra Mauro, made in the 1450s (inverted version, which is familiar to the modern eye). It looks so detailed that it seems as if Europeans already know every corner in the world. And most importantly - no white spots.
But then in 1492, Christopher Columbus, who for a long time could not find patrons for sailing in search of the western route to India, sailed from Spain to bring his idea to life. But something more ambitious happened: on October 12, 1492, the man looking on the ship “Pinta” shouted “Earth! Earth! ”And the world has ceased to be the same. No one thought to open a whole continent. To the end of his life, Columbus clung to the idea that it was just a small archipelago east of India. The idea that he discovered the continent did not fit in his head, like many of his contemporaries.
For many centuries, great thinkers and scientists have only talked about Europe, Africa and Asia. Are the authorities wrong and did not have the full knowledge? Did the scriptures lose sight of half the world? To move on, people needed to throw off the shackles of ancient traditions and recognize the fact that they do not know all the answers. They themselves need to find the answers and learn the world again.
In order to master new territories and rule new lands, a tremendous amount of new knowledge was needed about the flora, fauna, geography, Aboriginal culture, land history and much more. Old textbooks and ancient traditions will not help here, we need a new approach - a scientific approach.
Over time, cards began to appear with white spots, which attracted even more adventurers. One example is the 1525 Salviati map below. No one knows what awaits you at the next cape. Nobody knows what new things you will learn and how much it will be useful for you and society.
But this discovery did not change the consciousness of all of humanity at once. New lands attracted only Europeans. The Ottomans were too busy with their traditional expansion of influence through the conquest of their neighbors, and the Chinese were not at all interested. It cannot be said that the new lands were too far from them, that they could not swim there. 60 years before the discovery by Columbus of America, the Chinese sailed to the eastern shores of Africa and their technologies were enough to begin the exploration of America. But they did not. Perhaps due to the fact that this idea is too encroached on their traditions and was contrary to them. Then this revolution had not yet taken place in their head, and when they and the Ottomans came to their senses, it was already too late, since the Europeans had already seized most of the land.
The desire to master the unexplored paths not only on land, but also in science is not the only reason why modern man is so confident in the further emergence of innovations. Thirst for discovery gave way to the emergence of the idea of progress. The essence of the idea is this: if you recognize your ignorance and invest in research, things will go smoothly.
People who believed in the idea of progress also believed that geographical discoveries, technical inventions, and the development of connections would increase the total amount of production, trade and wealth. New trade routes across the Atlantic could bring profits without undermining the former trade routes through the Indian Ocean. New goods appeared, and the production of the previous ones was not reduced. The idea also quickly acquired an economic expression in the form of economic growth and active use of credit.
In essence, a loan is raising money in the present at the expense of the future, based on the assumption that in the future we will have more money than in the present. Credit existed even before the scientific revolution, but the fact is that people did not want to give or take loans, because they did not hope for a better future. Usually they thought that the best was in the past, and the future could be even worse than the present. Therefore, if in ancient times loans were given, then for the most part for a short time and at very high interest rates.
Everyone believed that the universal pie was limited, and maybe even gradually reduced. If you succeeded and grabbed a big piece of cake, then you cheated someone. Therefore, in many cultures, “making money” was a sinful business. If the Scandinavian king has more money, then most likely he made a successful raid on England and took away some of their resources. If your shop makes a big profit, then you have taken the money from a competitor. No matter how you cut the cake, it will not happen again.
Credit is the difference between what is now and what will happen next. If the cake is the same and there is no difference, then what is the point of issuing a loan? As a result, new enterprises practically did not open, and the economy was trampling on the spot. And since the economy did not grow, no one believed in its growth. The result was a vicious circle that lasted for many centuries.
But with the advent of new markets, new tastes in people, new discoveries and innovations, the pie began to grow. Now people have the opportunity to enrich themselves not only by taking away from their neighbor, especially if you are creating something new.
Now we are again in a vicious circle, which is already based on faith in the future. The constant progress and constant growth of the pie gives people confidence in the working capacity of this idea. Trust generates credit, credit leads to economic growth, economic growth generates faith in the future. When we believe in the future, we move in the direction of progress.
We changed one vicious circle to another. Good or bad, everyone can determine for himself. If earlier we were marking time, now we are running. We run faster and faster and can not stop, because our heart beats so fast that it seems to us that it will fly out of the chest if we stop. Therefore, we are not likely to believe in innovations; we cannot afford not to believe in them.
Now we are moving forward in the hope that this will improve the lives of future generations, will make our lives more comfortable and safe. And we believe that innovation can or will at least try to cope with this task.
It is not known how far this idea of progress will carry us. Perhaps over time, our heart will not stand up to such loads and yet will force us to stop. Perhaps we will continue to run so fast that we will be able to take off and turn into a completely new look, which already will be difficult to call a person in a modern form. And this view will build a new vicious circle on ideas that we are still incomprehensible.
The most important weapon of a man has always been two things - ideas and myths. The idea of taking a stick, the idea of building such an institution as a state, the idea of using money, the idea of progress - they all form our approach. The myth of human rights, the myth of gods and religions, the myth of nationality, the myth of a beautiful future - all of them are designed to unite us and consolidate the power of our approach. I do not know whether we will use these weapons in the future as our marathon goes, but I think they will be very difficult to replace.
And we are not talking about such modern “innovations” as ray tracing technology on Nvidia’s RTX video cards or 50-fold zoom in the new Huawei smartphone. These things are more useful to marketers than users. It's about real innovations, which greatly changed our approach and outlook on life.
For 500 years, and especially in the last 200 years, human life has been constantly transformed under the influence of new ideas, inventions and discoveries. And this is a fairly short period for human history. Prior to this, development seemed very slow and unhurried, especially from a 21st century person.
')
In the modern world, the main constant is change. Some of the statements of 15 years ago, which at one time were quite normal, can now be perceived by people as something inappropriate or offensive. Part of the profile literature 10 years ago is no longer considered relevant, and seeing an electric car on the road is already considered the norm not only in developed countries.
We are accustomed to the destruction of traditions, to revolutionary technologies and to constant information about new discoveries, which so far are little understood. We are confident that science and technology are not standing still, and we believe that in the future we are waiting for new discoveries and innovations. But why are we so sure of this? When did we start believing in technology and scientific research methods? What was the cause?
In my opinion, Yuval Noi Harari reveals these questions in sufficient detail in his book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind” (I think that it is worth reading each sapiens). Therefore, this text will largely rely on some of its judgments.
The phrase that changed everything
Throughout its history, people constantly recorded empirical observations, but their value was low, because people believed that all the really necessary knowledge of humanity had already been received from ancient philosophers and prophets. For centuries, the most important way to acquire knowledge was the study and execution of existing traditions. Why waste time searching for new answers if we already have all the answers?
Loyalty to tradition was the only chance to return the glorious past. The inventions could only slightly improve the traditional way of life, but they tried not to encroach upon the traditions themselves. Because of this worship of the past, many ideas and inventions were considered a manifestation of pride and were discarded at the root. Even if the great philosophers and prophets of the past could not solve the problem of hunger and mora, then how can we?
Probably many people know stories about Icarus, the Tower of Babel or the Golem. They taught that any attempt to go beyond a person’s limits would have terrible consequences. If you did not have any knowledge, then you most likely turned to a wiser person, and did not try to find the answers yourself. Yes, and curiosity (recalling “eat an apple”) was not particularly honored in some cultures.
No one needed to discover what no one knew before. Why should I understand the device of the spider's web or the functioning of our immune system, if the ancient sages and scientists did not consider this something important and did not write about it?
As a result, for a long period, people lived inside this vacuum of traditions and ancient knowledge, without even thinking that their worldview was rather limited. But then we made one of the most important discoveries that marked the beginning of a scientific revolution — ignorance. “I don't know” is perhaps one of the most important phrases in our story that prompted us to look for answers. The idea that people do not know the answers to the most important questions made us change our attitude to existing knowledge.
The lack of answers was considered a manifestation of weakness and this position has not yet disappeared. Some people still do not recognize their ignorance in certain issues and present themselves as “experts” just not to be from the position of the weak. Even if it can be difficult for modern people to say “I don't know,” it is difficult to imagine what it was like in a society where all the questions were already answered.
How ignorance has increased our world
Of course, statements about human ignorance were in antiquity. Suffice it to recall the phrase “I know that I know nothing,” attributed to Socrates. But the massive recognition of ignorance, which led to a passion for discoveries, appeared a little later - with the discovery of a whole continent, which, by chance or error, was named after the traveler Amerigo Vespucci.
Here is a map of Fra Mauro, made in the 1450s (inverted version, which is familiar to the modern eye). It looks so detailed that it seems as if Europeans already know every corner in the world. And most importantly - no white spots.
But then in 1492, Christopher Columbus, who for a long time could not find patrons for sailing in search of the western route to India, sailed from Spain to bring his idea to life. But something more ambitious happened: on October 12, 1492, the man looking on the ship “Pinta” shouted “Earth! Earth! ”And the world has ceased to be the same. No one thought to open a whole continent. To the end of his life, Columbus clung to the idea that it was just a small archipelago east of India. The idea that he discovered the continent did not fit in his head, like many of his contemporaries.
For many centuries, great thinkers and scientists have only talked about Europe, Africa and Asia. Are the authorities wrong and did not have the full knowledge? Did the scriptures lose sight of half the world? To move on, people needed to throw off the shackles of ancient traditions and recognize the fact that they do not know all the answers. They themselves need to find the answers and learn the world again.
In order to master new territories and rule new lands, a tremendous amount of new knowledge was needed about the flora, fauna, geography, Aboriginal culture, land history and much more. Old textbooks and ancient traditions will not help here, we need a new approach - a scientific approach.
Over time, cards began to appear with white spots, which attracted even more adventurers. One example is the 1525 Salviati map below. No one knows what awaits you at the next cape. Nobody knows what new things you will learn and how much it will be useful for you and society.
But this discovery did not change the consciousness of all of humanity at once. New lands attracted only Europeans. The Ottomans were too busy with their traditional expansion of influence through the conquest of their neighbors, and the Chinese were not at all interested. It cannot be said that the new lands were too far from them, that they could not swim there. 60 years before the discovery by Columbus of America, the Chinese sailed to the eastern shores of Africa and their technologies were enough to begin the exploration of America. But they did not. Perhaps due to the fact that this idea is too encroached on their traditions and was contrary to them. Then this revolution had not yet taken place in their head, and when they and the Ottomans came to their senses, it was already too late, since the Europeans had already seized most of the land.
How we started to believe in the future
The desire to master the unexplored paths not only on land, but also in science is not the only reason why modern man is so confident in the further emergence of innovations. Thirst for discovery gave way to the emergence of the idea of progress. The essence of the idea is this: if you recognize your ignorance and invest in research, things will go smoothly.
People who believed in the idea of progress also believed that geographical discoveries, technical inventions, and the development of connections would increase the total amount of production, trade and wealth. New trade routes across the Atlantic could bring profits without undermining the former trade routes through the Indian Ocean. New goods appeared, and the production of the previous ones was not reduced. The idea also quickly acquired an economic expression in the form of economic growth and active use of credit.
In essence, a loan is raising money in the present at the expense of the future, based on the assumption that in the future we will have more money than in the present. Credit existed even before the scientific revolution, but the fact is that people did not want to give or take loans, because they did not hope for a better future. Usually they thought that the best was in the past, and the future could be even worse than the present. Therefore, if in ancient times loans were given, then for the most part for a short time and at very high interest rates.
Everyone believed that the universal pie was limited, and maybe even gradually reduced. If you succeeded and grabbed a big piece of cake, then you cheated someone. Therefore, in many cultures, “making money” was a sinful business. If the Scandinavian king has more money, then most likely he made a successful raid on England and took away some of their resources. If your shop makes a big profit, then you have taken the money from a competitor. No matter how you cut the cake, it will not happen again.
Credit is the difference between what is now and what will happen next. If the cake is the same and there is no difference, then what is the point of issuing a loan? As a result, new enterprises practically did not open, and the economy was trampling on the spot. And since the economy did not grow, no one believed in its growth. The result was a vicious circle that lasted for many centuries.
But with the advent of new markets, new tastes in people, new discoveries and innovations, the pie began to grow. Now people have the opportunity to enrich themselves not only by taking away from their neighbor, especially if you are creating something new.
Now we are again in a vicious circle, which is already based on faith in the future. The constant progress and constant growth of the pie gives people confidence in the working capacity of this idea. Trust generates credit, credit leads to economic growth, economic growth generates faith in the future. When we believe in the future, we move in the direction of progress.
What to expect next?
We changed one vicious circle to another. Good or bad, everyone can determine for himself. If earlier we were marking time, now we are running. We run faster and faster and can not stop, because our heart beats so fast that it seems to us that it will fly out of the chest if we stop. Therefore, we are not likely to believe in innovations; we cannot afford not to believe in them.
Now we are moving forward in the hope that this will improve the lives of future generations, will make our lives more comfortable and safe. And we believe that innovation can or will at least try to cope with this task.
It is not known how far this idea of progress will carry us. Perhaps over time, our heart will not stand up to such loads and yet will force us to stop. Perhaps we will continue to run so fast that we will be able to take off and turn into a completely new look, which already will be difficult to call a person in a modern form. And this view will build a new vicious circle on ideas that we are still incomprehensible.
The most important weapon of a man has always been two things - ideas and myths. The idea of taking a stick, the idea of building such an institution as a state, the idea of using money, the idea of progress - they all form our approach. The myth of human rights, the myth of gods and religions, the myth of nationality, the myth of a beautiful future - all of them are designed to unite us and consolidate the power of our approach. I do not know whether we will use these weapons in the future as our marathon goes, but I think they will be very difficult to replace.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/446612/
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