∎ Where Good Ideas Come From- The Natural History of Innovation - Johnson - 2011 - Reading Session 202408121045
Annotations of 𖠫 Where Good Ideas Come From- The Natural History of Innovation - Johnson - 2011 from 20240812 at 10:45
Filters reduce serendipity
This is too strong a claim. Certainly filters have some effect on the kinds of concepts, someone can encounter, but that may simply mean that they are more available to other clouds of concepts. I don’t think anyone can say that there is a direct relationship between filtering and serendipity.
Page 121
it’s true that by the time you’ve entered something into the Google search box, you’re already invested in the topic. (This is why Web pioneer John Battelle calls it the “data base of intentions.”)
Database queries, as declarations of intention, is a really interesting framing.
Page 123
Google and Wikipedia give those passing hints something to attach to, a kind of information anchor that lets you settle down around a topic and explore the surrounding area. They turn hints and happy accidents into information. If the commonplace book tradition tells us that the best way to nurture hunches is to write everything down, the serendipity engine of the Web suggests a parallel directive: look everything up.
Johnson argues that serendipity systems require that the serendipity-haver “look everything up”; chase every interest to fill out more connections.