Where Good Ideas Come From

The 10/10 rule, as presented by Johnson, is the observation that many significant technological innovations typically take about a decade to develop and another decade to achieve widespread adoption. This pattern held for various 20th-century technologies, including radio, television, and personal computers, illustrating the typical timeframe for major technological shifts.

Johnson utilizes the concept of “the adjacent possible,” borrowed from Stuart Kauffman, to refer to the set of potential innovations or ideas that are within reach at any given moment, based on existing components and knowledge. It represents the frontier of possibility that can be explored from the current state of things. The adjacent possible expands as discoveries or innovations are made, opening up new avenues for further exploration and combination. Johnson uses this concept to explain how innovation often occurs through the recombination of existing elements rather than through entirely novel creations.

Johnson uses “chaos mode” to describe a state of neural activity in the brain characterized by disorganized, non-synchronized firing of neurons. This state is contrasted with more orderly, synchronized neural activity. Johnson argues that these periods of neural chaos are crucial for creativity and problem-solving, as they allow the brain to explore new connections and assimilate new information.