On 14 March 2012 18:17, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote:

> Each one of these recommendations for cultivating genius seems stupidly
> obvious. And yet, almost no modern state manages to tick these 3 boxes.
> The whole article can be summarised as follows:
>
> Encourage immigration.
> Encourage education.
> Encourage risk-taking.
>
> Simple enough? And yet...
>
> Udhay
>
> PS: I love the phrase 'talent clots inhomogeneously'.
>
> http://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/02/st_essay_genius
>
> Cultivating Genius in the 21st Century
>
>    By Jonah Lehrer
>    February 28, 2012 |
>    Wired March 2012
>
> Most economic growth has a very simple source: new ideas. It is our
> creativity that generates wealth. So how can we increase the pace of
> innovation? Is it possible to inspire more Picassos and Steve Jobses?
>
>

Interesting read, but like the others in this thread, I think human-nature,
the inherent resistance to change and the fear of the new trumps common
sense. Vote banks don't like change, hence governments think twice.

I live in Singapore at the moment, and while the government, on the surface
of it, is trying hard to tick all these boxes, the average joe doesn't like
it, even though my opinion is that everyone has benefited from it. The
reason is that economic progress causes financial inequality in the
short-term which in turn causes resistance. If a country like this, which
is imminently manageable and relatively well-off, can't do this without
resistance, imagine how a larger, more chaotic country (like mine) would
pull something like this off.

Also, would you agree with the statement that the USA is fundamentally
built on these principles (over the last 100 years, not necessarily at this
point in time)


Dibyo

Reply via email to