The Link Between History and Innovation

The concept of a city that runs entirely on solar energy and in which cars are not permitted is a bold and ingenious one. Still, I must admit that I was not too surprised by what I read about Masdar. It is not that the idea of such a city existing anywhere on the planet is not in itself surprising; for anyone to make such an argument is ridiculous, to say the least. I failed to be surprised by most aspects of Masdar only because of the great number of other similarly innovative concepts to which this course has thus far introduced us. After being exposed to the idea of peanut butter paste as a panacea for world hunger, a stairmaster that waters crops and a car that costs less than the MacBook I am using to type this post, a city that uses entirely renewable power sources is, dare I say, banal. Well, maybe that’s a stretch. In all seriousness, however, not much really jumped out at me about Masdar city. There was, however, one aspect of the project that gave me pause: The city is to incorporate aspects of other great cities throughout history. I was a history major in college and never miss an opportunity to extol the merits of a strong knowledge of past events. However, the idea that a nexus exists between history and innovation seems, at least at first, a bit counterintuitive.

The way in which history and innovation fit together, however, became clear to me when I realized that no innovation is ever completely original. Every new technology, no matter how ingenious, makes use of some technology that is already in existence. Innovations, put quite simply, are improvements. A clear understanding of the techniques and inventions of the past, therefore, is not just a benefit to the innovator, but a requirement of him or her. An article published in 2009 by Siftstar.com, a site run by an economist, speaks to this point.

Some questions for consideration are: How can we motivate aspiring innovators, in particular aspiring social innovators, to study history and thereby become better equipped to undertake projects that make a difference? What other innovations besides Masdar city employ techniques and ideas that were used hundreds or even thousands of years ago?