Law of the handicap of a head start
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
| Revision as of 00:09, 22 January 2009 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Revision as of 20:00, 13 January 2014 Jahsonic (Talk | contribs) Next diff → |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | The '''Commercial Revolution''' was a period of [[Europe]]an economic expansion, [[colonialism]], and [[mercantilism]] which lasted from approximately the sixteenth century until the early eighteenth century. Beginning with the [[Crusades]], Europeans rediscovered spices, silks, and other commodities rare in Europe. This development created a new desire for trade, and trade expanded in the second half of the [[Middle Ages]]. European nations, through [[Age of Discovery|voyages of discovery]], were looking for new trade routes in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which allowed the European powers to build vast, new [[international trade]] networks. Nations also sought new sources of wealth. To deal with this new-found wealth, new economic theories and practices were created. Because of competing national interest, nations had the desire for increased world power through their colonial empires. The Commercial Revolution is marked by an increase in general commerce, and in the growth of non-manufacturing pursuits, such as banking, insurance, and investing. | + | :''[[handicap]]'' |
| + | |||
| + | The '''dialectics of progress''' is the problem that when a society dedicates itself to certain standards and those standards change, it is harder to adapt. A society that hasn't committed itself yet will not have this problem. Thus, a society that at one point has a head start over other societies, may at a later time be stuck with obsolete technology that gets in the way of further progress. The result is that what is considered to be the state of the art in a certain field can be seen as "jumping" from place to place. A common example of this is 19th century [[England]], which was at the forefront of the [[industrial revolution]]; the technology and infrastructure installed at the time later became a hindrance to further modernization. Conversely, countries like [[Japan]] or the [[Soviet Union]], being industrial latecomers, were able to adopt the latest industrial technologies with little disruption from and to extant infrastructure. More contemporary examples are those pertaining to [[Internet]] infrastructure, like the adoption of [[IPv6]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | More in general, societies, companies and individuals are often confronted with the decision to either invest now and get a fast return or put off the investment until a new technology has emerged and possibly make a bigger profit then. | ||
| + | |||
| + | A well known problem for individuals is the decision when to buy a (new) computer. Computer speed develops at a steady pace, so if you put off the investment for one year, you may have to do with a slower (or no) computer for the first year, but after that (at the same price) you'll have a faster one. But usually the technological development is not so predictable. | ||
| + | |||
| + | "Dialectics of progress" is a translation of the title of an essay by [[Netherlands|Dutch]] historian [[Jan Romein]] first published in 1935 where he described this phenomenon, although his term for it would literally translate as "''the law of the braking lead''", which is the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] term for it. | ||
| + | |||
| + | See also [[logistic function]]. | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Revision as of 20:00, 13 January 2014
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The dialectics of progress is the problem that when a society dedicates itself to certain standards and those standards change, it is harder to adapt. A society that hasn't committed itself yet will not have this problem. Thus, a society that at one point has a head start over other societies, may at a later time be stuck with obsolete technology that gets in the way of further progress. The result is that what is considered to be the state of the art in a certain field can be seen as "jumping" from place to place. A common example of this is 19th century England, which was at the forefront of the industrial revolution; the technology and infrastructure installed at the time later became a hindrance to further modernization. Conversely, countries like Japan or the Soviet Union, being industrial latecomers, were able to adopt the latest industrial technologies with little disruption from and to extant infrastructure. More contemporary examples are those pertaining to Internet infrastructure, like the adoption of IPv6.
More in general, societies, companies and individuals are often confronted with the decision to either invest now and get a fast return or put off the investment until a new technology has emerged and possibly make a bigger profit then.
A well known problem for individuals is the decision when to buy a (new) computer. Computer speed develops at a steady pace, so if you put off the investment for one year, you may have to do with a slower (or no) computer for the first year, but after that (at the same price) you'll have a faster one. But usually the technological development is not so predictable.
"Dialectics of progress" is a translation of the title of an essay by Dutch historian Jan Romein first published in 1935 where he described this phenomenon, although his term for it would literally translate as "the law of the braking lead", which is the Dutch term for it.
See also logistic function.
