Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Mapping Innovation

Mapping Innovation: In The Atlantic (Vol. 299, No. 1, January-February, 2007.

"Predicting innovation is something of a self-canceling exercise: the most probable innovations are probably the least innovative. The history of humankind's development can be summed up as the story of surprise. Adam Smith failed to forecast the Industrial Revolution despite his friendship with James Watt, inventor of the steam engine that powered it. And who would have prophesied MySpace, Oprah, or a TSA ban on hair-styling gel in quantities greater than three ounces?

But even if we can't see what innovations are around the corner, maybe we can at least predict what places are likely to be the most innovative in the future. And an innovative tool called Worldmapper might help."

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