Sunday: Talk at the Slate Star Codex meetup on the “linear model” of innovation

This Sunday at 11:30am Pacific I’ll be speaking to the Slate Star Codex meetup:

The non-linear model of innovation

Innovation is often described with a “linear” model from discovery to invention to distribution. There is an element of truth in this, but a naive interpretation of the model does not match the reality of science and invention. In this talk, I’ll show the feedback mechanisms between discovery and invention and how they are intertwined, using examples including the transistor at Bell Labs and the career of Louis Pasteur.

The talk will be similar but not identical to the article below.

Register here.

Innovation is not linear (for Works in Progress)

An article by me, “Innovation Is Not Linear,” appears today in the second issue of Works in Progress:

There is an important truth in this “linear model” of innovation. But there is also much more interaction between science and invention than a naive interpretation of the model would imply.

I’ve touched on this topic before (e.g., “Science and the Industrial Revolution,” “Pasteur’s quadrant”), but this fleshes out my ideas on the topic more, with many historical examples.

Read the article.

Video: Michael Strong on Montessori, the Socratic method, and Conscious Capitalism

The Torch of Progress, Episode 15

I interviewed Michael Strong, founder of the Academy of Thought and Industry, the Montessori-inspired high school that Progress Studies for Young Scholars was developed for. We had a wide-ranging discussion including:

• Why he founded the Academy and what’s different about it
• How Montessori educational principles, which were developed for younger children, apply to the high school level
• What the Socratic method is, beyond just “asking questions”
• The meaning and relevance of the concept of “Western civilization”
• The concept of “conscious capitalism” he developed with Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey

Audio on SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts. See all our past and upcoming episodes here.