Innovation Quote by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
““There were two main sources of technical knowledge and innovation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the hobbyist and the English rector, both of whom were generally in barbell situations.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Black Swan, 2007
Innovation historically stemmed from hobbyists and academic leaders, both often in constrained environments.
In simple terms: Innovation comes from unconventional sources.
Key Takeaway
Explore diverse knowledge sources.
Themes
innovation
knowledge
hobbyists
academia
constraints
Mood
analytical
inquisitive
Type
theoretical
explanatory
When to use this quote
- R&D
- entrepreneurship
- education policy
Key Concepts
economic history
creative destruction
Questions to Reflect On
- How can constraints be turned into advantages?
- What modern equivalents exist?
A Different Perspective
Constraints can limit resources.
![“[In eighteenth-century Britain] engineers for the most began as simple workmen, skilful and ambitious but usually illiterate and self-taught. They were either millwrights like Bramah, mechanics like Murdoch and George Stephenson, or smiths like Newcomen and Maudslay.” quote by John Desmond Bernal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c15/john-desmond-bernal-14871_ambitious_in-eighteenth-century-britain-engineers_929710.jpg)
![“Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then [these?], any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/449/abraham-lincoln-88_adoption_next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in_1828.jpg)
