So I look at that 30-year rhythm and wonder. Somehow, it's built into our bones that something has to double every generation. The inventive mind seems to be animal instinct as much as volition. Wars don't alter rates of inventive change. Economics and kingly edicts don't alter it.
Invention flows from our inner being.
It is a powerful river that cannot be dammed or deflected. I really believe that it's the way we insist on life. Invention is the primary means by which we rage against equilibrium and death. Before and After the 1830's. Technology and Culture , Vol.