https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/17/world/gallery/tbt-albert-einstein/index.html
Human progress is based on 4 things, IMHO. We are able to abstract and generalize. We accumulate our lessons learned. We innovate. We combine our structured, accumulated knowledge with innovations. Creativity and innovation get most of the attention. Yet, the accumulation of our practical and theoretical experience in language, books, records and equations may be equally important. The ability to switch “back and forth” between a fixed structure, history, religion and culture and new innovations may be the most important aspect of all. We have divergent and convergent thinking abilities. We use inductive and deductive reasoning. We intuitively prefer “either/or” but can manage “both/and” logic. The modern history of mankind’s progress points towards the importance of creativity and “both/and” logic.
Abstraction is a relatively recent phenomenon. Democritus imagined atoms, smaller and smaller particles. Heraclitus imagined all as change. The Greeks imagined earth, water, air, and fire beneath everything. Pythagoras and Euclid provided geometric proofs and ideal figures. Aristotle offered a powerful version of formal logic. Plato defined the “forms” and the ideal realm that stands above our experienced reality. Descartes defined mind versus body and the Cartesian coordinate system. Newton rationalized the universe in terms of algebraically defined laws. Kant defined pure logic and the limits to pure logic. The great appeal of abstract rules and an implicit mechanical universe remains to this day. The “Enlightenment” produced new politics, economics, culture, science and religion based upon these powerful insights.
The accumulation of knowledge has occurred in a surprisingly wide variety of forms. Life in DNA. Sexual reproduction. Man’s biological memory. Human consciousness. Spoken language. Music. Myths. Written language. Culture. Laws. Accounting systems and records. Religious practices. Architecture. Books. Libraries. Scribes. Printing. Histories. Universities. Experimental science. Prophets. Peer-reviewed journals. Scientific societies. Mass media. Recordings. Radio. Video. Internet. Wikipedia. Zoom.
The history of innovation is well known. I want to highlight the general trend away from simple, atomistic, “either/or”, static views to more complex, multi-level, “both/and”, dynamic, organic views that provide much better insights into our real experience.
Physics has moved from statics to dynamics. Classical mechanics has been replaced by complex, probabilistic quantum mechanics. The fixed, static, deterministic perspective has been replaced by Einstein’s relativity. In general, deterministic views are replaced by probabilistic views. The solid atoms have been replaced by waves and fields. Light exhibits both wave and particle behaviors. Heisenberg says we cannot measure everything. The background framework of an “ether” is no longer required. The mathematics required to describe physics has moved from algebra to multi-variate calculus to string theory. Only a handful of people truly understand the frontiers of physics in the last 100 years.
Mathematics has advanced wonderfully in the last 500 years. Newton and Leibniz invented the calculus. Man could now measure, describe, imagine and control changes through time. There is an equation underlying all activities that can, in theory, predict the future and explain the past. Dynamics can be described. Three-dimensional Euclidean geometry was superseded by multiple-dimensional geometry, Riemann curved space and fractals. Probability theory was developed to clearly describe apparently random activities, providing a solid basis for evaluating the results of experiments. Set theory evolved to encompass all of mathematics and logic, including various conceptions of infinities. Goedel’s 1931 “incompleteness theorem” undercut Russel’s attempt to define a single, bottoms-up, certain, powerful mathematics.
Biology evolved from collecting, illustrating and categorizing specimens to Lamarck’s deterministic evolution to Darwin’s evolutionary survival of the fittest perspective. Society increasingly adopted a biological, process, systems theory perspective in place of a physics, mechanical, materialistic perspective. Nature versus nurture became nature and nurture. The details of genetics is better understood as a very complex process involving multiple genes and other structures.
In philosophy, Hegel defined his dynamic thesis, antithesis, synthesis model. History now ruled. Eternal universals were much less likely. Multiple perspectives were elevated. Certainty was less likely. Marx tried to use Hegel’s general framework combined with an economic, materialist determinism but he failed.
In practical technology, we have seen the rapid accumulation of knowledge. We have also witnessed the great importance of “both/and” solutions. For example, ships and automobiles required the invention of a clutch that provided both solid propulsion and slippage. Powered vehicles first required rails but were turned loose as motor carriages. Wheels evolved from steel to rubber to accommodate shocks, turns and rough roads. Vehicles added suspension systems.
In economics, we advanced from mercantilism to comparative advantage and free trade. We left behind land, labor or capital as the only sources of value with the insights of the marginal productivity economists. We moved from static to dynamic perspectives and focused on the determinants of growth in advanced and developing nations. Keynes demonstrated that national economies were more than the sum of individual markets and that self-regulating equilibriums were not inherent in a market system.
Computer systems have evolved from fully defined linear and logical systems to massively parallel systems capable of artificial intelligence and spoken interaction with humans.
Businesses have replaced assembly lines and Taylor’s experiments with a deeper understanding of individual tasks in probability terms and the sequence of events in any process. Firms have embraced Japanese style process management and improvement, delivering constantly improving results. Supply chains span the globe. Project management is now “agile”. Strategic planning is no longer deterministic, but focused on mission, vision, values, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and culture. Investments are considered within the framework of portfolios of risks and returns. Entrepreneurs and leaders are valued above technical and professional experts.
For many, religion has evolved from a legal, literal, deterministic perspective to one that emphasizes the principles, insights, opportunities, feelings, experiences and possibilities of a given creed, despite the loss of absolute certainty in a “Secular Age”.
As humans we prefer a simpler, more deterministic view of the world. Yet the world shows us that it is more complex and that we will never fully understand it.
