The lecture by Professor Vittorio Loreto from Sapienza University of Rome on possibilities and innovations was very interest, but I don’t think I agreed with a lot of it. The professor claimed that innovation is what he called “adjacent possible,” meaning that it’s constantly being pushed and expanded to new horizons. With every improvement we push possible to new limits. Does this mean that innovation is somehow different now? Are new limits a good thing?

It started with a game. Almost like hangman, you try to guess a letter in the word. On the next level, we had to guess the letters sequentially. As the phrases got longer, the game got harder. Our brains try to make patterns and solutions, even though the possibilities are in the trillions. We are naturally always trying to find solutions, and many of those solutions are born from innovating preexisting ideas or notions that we already have.

It is a fact that innovation is thriving more than ever, but Professor Loreto claimed that this is only because there are more people innovating and not that innovation is making larger leaps. While I agree that more minds are getting involved in professional innovation, I don’t think it’s a new concept for individuals to think of solutions. In today’s market, it’s possible to create a profit for these kind of ideas that would have never been able to leave the chalkboard decades ago. It’s much more than more people are innovating, but our economy and culture have evolved to allow innovators to start business, create products, and share ideas.

The professor went on to talk about how patents are stifling innovation. I couldn’t disagree more. Patent are important to maintain ownership of ideals, but individuals are still explore improvements. To put that in perspective, the vacuum was once a crazy, new invention, but it quickly caught the public’s interest. Other companies were envious of the creators success. How could they get around the patent? By innovating the next step: a handheld, cordless vacuum. If anything, patents push innovators to think ahead and gather their own data and ideals to solve a problem. There is rarely only one solution to a problem, and innovators don’t need to rely on each other’s work to reach a solution.

Innovation is being pushed to new heights every single day. Almost anyone can learn from the Internet how to create an app, a website, or a game. The Age of Technology has brought the gift of access to anyone with time, ambition, and an idea. They have access to materials, funding, and other innovators at the click of a button. More importantly, they are able to have a following. The general public want to support new ideas, which is how websites like GoFundMe work. Innovation has changed in so many more ways than just including more people. Perhaps I didn’t understand Professor Loreto’s point, but I don’t agree with the idea that innovation has only grown in quantity of people involved.