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- Reading and Conversation as Idea Evolution
Reading and Conversation as Idea Evolution
I’ve been on an absolute tear of ideas around the various applications of evolutionary concepts, mostly spawned by my reading The Evolution of Everything.
One of the threads I thought of this morning is how conversation basically produces the most important aspect of evolution, which is descent with modification, which is then tested by the environment.
So, in table form:
I’ve been writing for a while about how my output increases exponentially when I am exposed to interesting ideas through reading, and I think the evolutionary model is one that accommodates that experience.
It’s the internal mating of ideas that happens between your own thoughts, your own assumptions, your own problems, and then the ideas being presented by the content you’re consuming.
And then, while you’re listening to the ideas, or even while you’re working on other things and your brain is processing, the ideas a mating with each other and producing descent with modification.
Then, sometime later, you have moments of clarity or innovation, which you can then try out in the real world (natural selection).
Read more books and talk to smart people, is what I’m trying to say.