Innovation frontier

In a world of high specialization, knowledge is largely created by going deep in the selected domain. Sheer complexity has driven every knowledge seeker to dig deeper and narrower tunnels in her own area of specialization. However, such knowledge is incremental with little ability to effect breakthrough innovation. This has important implications for education, policy and the innovation rate of the overall economy. 

At one time, biology, chemistry and physics were considered orthogonal avenues of pursuit. Till recently, the concepts used in engineering and computer science in the understanding, design and creation of physical and information systems was not considered to share any usable ideas for those engaged in biological systems. Even now, most of the medical sciences run on the basic proposition of affecting a biological system through synthetic chemistry only. Engineering design of biology – synthetic biology – is a nascent area that begins to break these barriers between domains – giving glimmers of hope for a higher level of innovation. At the heart of such innovation is an effort to systematically understand uncertainty and inter-relationships rather than prescriptively dig deeper in one direction.

In the modern world, replete with highly complex but segmented specializations, innovation has to happen in the boundaries. Synthetic biology is an important first step in this direction. But such a merger need not be limited to science and technology. Higher level innovation can happen in the boundaries of fields such as science, art, religion and philosophy – areas currently considered to be orthogonal, with nothing to share. These segments are rendered rigid by educational systems, media, policy and business, limiting what is possible. This will require a fundamental shift in how knowledge itself is defined and what society considers to be innovation.

Much excitement may be in stock for the next generation, if they can shed the arcane and rigid labels imparted on them during a regime of incrementalism. Being the master of one may be inferior to visualizing the mixing of a few.

Ref: Flexibility. http://is.gd/flexbook