Obvious applications of a technology can wait centuries to be discovered
Evidence
It is curious to think what a length of time an idea may lie, without receiving some of its most obvious as well as useful applications. For how many centuries was the art of engraving for impressions practised to inimitable perfection on small stones, without its occurring to any one to apply it to plates or types upon a large scale! — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 707
Categorization
- XREF: This generalizes the same lag Bentham documents across his panopticon project — the principle of the tube and of inspection conceived long before mechanically applied. — connects to: Technology develops a self-sustaining momentum beyond its original drivers — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 393; Suppressed knowledge can resurface centuries later when new tools emerge — Jamal Awil, The Whispering Archive: The Complete…, 1694; Technological innovation is pushed from behind, not pulled toward a goal — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 394 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Technology develops a self-sustaining momentum beyond its original drivers
#expands(0.85) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 393 - Vitruvius’s resonator scheme has gone empirically untested for millennia
#exemplifies(0.85) - Suppressed knowledge can resurface centuries later when new tools emerge
#exemplifies(0.78) — Jamal Awil, The Whispering Archive, 1694 - Technological innovation is pushed from behind, not pulled toward a goal
#complicates(0.75) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 394