Imagine the lifecycle of an idea being some sort of spectrum. At the beginning of the spectrum is the birth of the idea. Further to the right, the idea gets refined some. Perhaps 1⁄4 the way through the person who has the idea texts some friends about it. Perhaps midway through it is refined enough where a rough draft is shared with some other friends. Perhaps 3⁄4 the way through a blog post is shared. Then further along, the idea receives more refinement, and maybe a follow up post is made. Perhaps towards the very end, the idea has been vetted and memetically accepted, and someone else ends up writing about it with their own spin and/or explanation.
Or something like that. This is just meant as a rough sketch.
Anyway, I worry that we don’t have a good process for that initial 75% of the spectrum. And furthermore, that those initial stages are quite important.
When I say “we” I’m talking partly about the LessWrong community and partly about society at large.
I have some ideas I’ll hopefully write about and pursue at some point to help with this. Basically, get the right people connected with each other in some awesome group chats.
It sounds to me like in a more normal case it doesn’t begin with texting friends but talking in person with them about the idea. For that to happen you usually need a good in person community.
These days more is happening via Zoom but reaching out to chat online still isn’t as easy as going to a meetup.
Collaboration and the early stages of ideas
Imagine the lifecycle of an idea being some sort of spectrum. At the beginning of the spectrum is the birth of the idea. Further to the right, the idea gets refined some. Perhaps 1⁄4 the way through the person who has the idea texts some friends about it. Perhaps midway through it is refined enough where a rough draft is shared with some other friends. Perhaps 3⁄4 the way through a blog post is shared. Then further along, the idea receives more refinement, and maybe a follow up post is made. Perhaps towards the very end, the idea has been vetted and memetically accepted, and someone else ends up writing about it with their own spin and/or explanation.
Or something like that. This is just meant as a rough sketch.
Anyway, I worry that we don’t have a good process for that initial 75% of the spectrum. And furthermore, that those initial stages are quite important.
When I say “we” I’m talking partly about the LessWrong community and partly about society at large.
I have some ideas I’ll hopefully write about and pursue at some point to help with this. Basically, get the right people connected with each other in some awesome group chats.
It sounds to me like in a more normal case it doesn’t begin with texting friends but talking in person with them about the idea. For that to happen you usually need a good in person community.
These days more is happening via Zoom but reaching out to chat online still isn’t as easy as going to a meetup.
Perhaps. I’m not sure.