prosthetic knowledge

Where good ideas come from - TED Talk from Steven Johnson

People often credit their ideas to individual “Eureka!” moments. But Steven Johnson shows how history tells a different story. His fascinating tour takes us from the “liquid networks” of London’s coffee houses to Charles Darwin’s long, slow hunch to today’s high-velocity web.

This came up from responses to a Brain Pickings post on social media and historic examples, and it reminded me of something I read somewhere that alcohol and pubs / bars were one of the earliest forms of social media. Interesting to see how these types of places have a much more significance to progress and stimulation (no pun intended) that they had.