The Platonicity of Triangles
The concept explains that credit for an idea often goes to the person who connects disparate observations into a coherent framework, not the original discoverer, as illustrated by Mandelbrot's synthesis of fractal geometry.
THE IDEA
THE PLATONICITY OF TRIANGLES
Now, why am I calling this business Mandelbrotian, or fractal, randomness? Every single bit and piece of the puzzle has been previously mentioned by someone else, such as Pareto, Yule, and Zipf, but it was Mandelbrot who a) connected the dots, b) linked randomness to geometry (and a special brand at that), and c) took the subject to its natural conclusion. Indeed many mathematicians are famous today partly because he dug out their works to back up his claims—the strategy I am following here in this book. “I had to invent my predecessors, so people take me seriously,” he once told me, and he used the credibility of big guns as a rhetorical device. One can almost always ferret out predecessors for any thought. You can always find someone who worked on a part of your argument and use his contribution as your backup. The scientific association with a big idea, the “brand name,” goes to the one who connects the dots, not the one who makes a casual observation—even Charles Darwin, who uncultured scientists claim “invented” the survival of the fittest, was not the first to mention it. He wrote in the introduction of The Origin of Species that the facts he presented were not necessarily original; it was the consequences that he thought were “interesting” (as he put it with characteristic Victorian modesty). In the end it is those who derive consequences and seize the importance of the ideas, seeing their real value, who win the day. They are the ones who can talk about the subject.
So let me describe Mandelbrotian geometry.
When to use it
In scientific research, understanding that credit often goes to the synthesizer helps in evaluating contributions and identifying key figures.
When writing a paper, strategically citing predecessors can strengthen your argument and lend credibility, as Mandelbrot did.
In innovation, recognizing that connecting existing ideas is valuable can encourage interdisciplinary thinking.
In historical analysis, tracing the lineage of an idea reveals that many discoveries are the result of connecting dots.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Mandelbrot's Synthesis
Mandelbrot connected the work of Pareto, Yule, and Zipf, among others, to develop fractal geometry. He actively sought out predecessors to lend credibility to his ideas, demonstrating that the credit goes to the one who connects the dots.
Darwin's Origin of Species
Charles Darwin acknowledged that the facts he presented were not original; it was the consequences that were interesting. Scientific credit goes to those who derive the implications of ideas, not just those who first observe them.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Can you think of a well-known idea that you assumed was originally discovered by one person? Who contributed earlier observations that were later synthesized?
When you develop a new idea, are you building on previous work? How can you acknowledge predecessors while still claiming novelty?
How does the concept of 'inventing predecessors' affect the way we perceive scientific progress?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- The Black Swan The Impact of the Highly Improbable With a new section On Robustness and Fragility (Nassim Nicholas Taleb)