There is a school of thought that a person is really limited by his imagination... okay, it's not really a “school” but a “reasoning” of thought. And I subscribe to that thought school.
In my mind, a person's limitations is mostly in the person's mind.
(Of course there are other limitations such as phobias that put a brake on progress sometimes; and while it is easy for someone who does not suffer the same phobia to advocate “no worries” - phobias are by definition irrational fears and very “real” in the person's mind so cannot be just wafted away with hollow sounding reassurances.)
The greater the capacity to imagine, the bigger the chances of creating something magical. History is dotted with examples of people who have imagined the possibilities and used their curiosity and ingenuity to create what in their times were nothing short of “magic.”
We take the telephone, the television, the radio for granted... yet there was a time when none of these existed. Of course there were a fair share of skeptics. These people in seats of power and influence (no one ever documents the words of the average person on the streets... unless its a poll of some kind.) who, in their authority, discredited these inventions as pointless and something that would never catch on. Alas, they are now mere footnotes in history and are forever destined to ridicule for their lack of vision.
I came across a item in The Economist recently that suggested a fascinating concept that links the development of man (or at least the evolution of ideas and imagination) over the last two millennnia. It suggests that “arguing that one person's life is just as much a part of mankind's story as another's. If people do make history, as this democratic view suggests, then two people make twice as much history as one.”
A result of this idea is that 28% of all history made since the birth of Christ was made in the 20th century – an equation that is basically powered by virtue of the size of the population.
Following is the item from The Economist:
Two thousand years in one chart
An alternative timeline for the past two millennia
SOME people recite history from above, recording the grand deeds of great men. Others tell history from below, arguing that one person's life is just as much a part of mankind's story as another's.
If people do make history, as this democratic view suggests, then two people make twice as much history as one. Since there are almost 7 billion people alive today, it follows that they are making seven times as much history as the 1 billion alive in 1811.
The chart below shows a population-weighted history of the past two millennia. By this reckoning, over 28% of all the history made since the birth of Christ was made in the 20th century. Measured in years lived, the present century, which is only ten years old, is already "longer" than the whole of the 17th century.
This century has made an even bigger contribution to economic history. Over 23% of all the goods and services made since 1AD were produced from 2001 to 2010, according to an updated version of Angus Maddison's figures.
Man is limited by his imagination, and as our imaginations take physical or practical manifestations it opens up possibilities for greater advances. And with it promise of greater achievements and bigger evolutionary milestones for the history books.
(Of course there are other limitations such as phobias that put a brake on progress sometimes; and while it is easy for someone who does not suffer the same phobia to advocate “no worries” - phobias are by definition irrational fears and very “real” in the person's mind so cannot be just wafted away with hollow sounding reassurances.)
The greater the capacity to imagine, the bigger the chances of creating something magical. History is dotted with examples of people who have imagined the possibilities and used their curiosity and ingenuity to create what in their times were nothing short of “magic.”
We take the telephone, the television, the radio for granted... yet there was a time when none of these existed. Of course there were a fair share of skeptics. These people in seats of power and influence (no one ever documents the words of the average person on the streets... unless its a poll of some kind.) who, in their authority, discredited these inventions as pointless and something that would never catch on. Alas, they are now mere footnotes in history and are forever destined to ridicule for their lack of vision.
I came across a item in The Economist recently that suggested a fascinating concept that links the development of man (or at least the evolution of ideas and imagination) over the last two millennnia. It suggests that “arguing that one person's life is just as much a part of mankind's story as another's. If people do make history, as this democratic view suggests, then two people make twice as much history as one.”
A result of this idea is that 28% of all history made since the birth of Christ was made in the 20th century – an equation that is basically powered by virtue of the size of the population.
Following is the item from The Economist:
*
Two thousand years in one chart
An alternative timeline for the past two millennia
SOME people recite history from above, recording the grand deeds of great men. Others tell history from below, arguing that one person's life is just as much a part of mankind's story as another's.
If people do make history, as this democratic view suggests, then two people make twice as much history as one. Since there are almost 7 billion people alive today, it follows that they are making seven times as much history as the 1 billion alive in 1811.
The chart below shows a population-weighted history of the past two millennia. By this reckoning, over 28% of all the history made since the birth of Christ was made in the 20th century. Measured in years lived, the present century, which is only ten years old, is already "longer" than the whole of the 17th century.
This century has made an even bigger contribution to economic history. Over 23% of all the goods and services made since 1AD were produced from 2001 to 2010, according to an updated version of Angus Maddison's figures.
*
While what the item says might be so, I think that the chart is also powered by the greater imagination of people, unleashed by the technological inventions and advancements of the 20th century, as well.Man is limited by his imagination, and as our imaginations take physical or practical manifestations it opens up possibilities for greater advances. And with it promise of greater achievements and bigger evolutionary milestones for the history books.
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