“If I have seen further, it is by standing
on the shoulders of giants.”
Isaac Newton
Everything builds on itself. Nothing is new. Our thoughts. Our ideas.
Our actions, which all may seem original, or we may think they are,
but consciously or unconsciously we are taking the seeds of someone
else’s thoughts, ideas or work and growing them. Improving them.
Making them bigger or better with fresh insights and new points of
view. Different environments that are more receptive to ideas or work.
History repeats itself for sure. Make no mistake, many critical thinkers
and “inventors” have come forth with fantastically new concepts, ideas,
and improvements, but all this is building on someone else’s foundational
work. New breakthroughs and “improvements” may come, but
for all the unheralded or long forgotten work of many, many others
that started the ball bouncing down the path, the breakthrough innovations
would have been much delayed. We all rely on those who came
before us and around us. Give credit where credit is due and be that
giant for someone else in the future. We learn so much from those
who came before us, or we should if we only look. As it is often said,
“history repeats itself.” Technology may be vastly different, but the
underlying principles, problems, issues, human nature, rarely change.
Chances are someone has been there and done that. Learn from
other people’s mistakes. Improve upon them and make them better.
Learn from other people’s experiences and wisdom. There are so
many people in the history of the world that we can gain insight and
lessons from. Whether it be “ancient history” like Marcus Aurelius and
Seneca or “modern times” like people who are alive today, over the
last few decades and centuries. Learn from the best. Stand on the
shoulders of giants. Gain fundamental insights into what great minds
have learned before us and then look at it from our own point of view
and how to make it better. Adapt to our own environments. If you just
stand on their shoulders, you will see further than the crowd.
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