I think the differentiating factor is bulk intelligence, the guy in the bath is a one or two per generation mind and PhD students are ten a penny. I was one, I know. I saw a mechanical engineering doctorate banging a screw into the wall with a hammer.
Oh gosh you are not helping my cynicism related to higher education.
I keep wondering if I (and a small group of my friends) are the smart ones and that scares the shit out of me because I think I’m the dumb one.
It's best not to worry too much about it. Embrace the chaos of a world driven by idiots.
What was the bottleneck that caused 3 centuries to pass between Gutenberg recreating the 4 century old movable type Chinese printing press, and the bulk of scientific discoveries? I know the basics of the industrial revolution were metallurgy, cyclical power safety with steam boiler pressure regulation (Watt), and the discovery that a lathe screw is capable of cutting a more accurate lathe screw. I don't know anything about the cultural evolution that made the age of discovery relevant, accessible, or most importantly made it stick.
It took a slow runup like all things and it stuck because it worked. Science begat technology which improved living standards, not just in a rarified way but universally and was very evident. In turn technical advancement shone a light back onto science as its enabler. The new discoveries were not only intellectual like those in the arts they altered the practicalities and aspirations of common life within all classes of society. A thing science continues to do unlike any other pursuit of humanity and it is relevant and sticks for this reason.
War might be a good answer
both fuel each other
wild ideas of philosphers entice those who like concrete data to see if they hold useful value
i think it's like science fiction and science - sure one is often a collage of various wild ideas - but some of them could inspire a person in a fancy lab coat to say "huh, that's cool, i wonder if i could make that real" (that's how we got mobile phones!)
being a scientist can sometimes trap you into the world of concrete data that's very detail orientated, scientists need their philosopher friends who just say wild shower thoughts without thinking too much about specifics. Small picture and big picture are not opposing forces after all, they complete each other
edit: fixed a broken link
your link points to a site about increasing Website performance.
huh? how? why? i have never seen that article before in my life how did that happen? attempt two to post the right thing. huh this one worked i'm genuinely so deeply confused, i'll update the original too. thank you for telling me!
See, I knew philosophy was fiction.
I reality it is all about how you present yourself.
Sadly, most truths don't overcome presentation.
"Tell them a lie 1000 times and it will become truth"
