Fred Hoyle’s the Black Cloud is a stunning read. Well worth the time and accolades as one of the greatest works of science fiction ever. Loved this opening to one of the latter chapters:
It is curious in how great a degree human progress depends on the individual. Humans, numbered in thousands of millions, seem organized into an ant-like society. Yet this is not so. New ideas, the impetus of all development, come from individual people, not from corporations or states. New ideas, fragile as spring flowers, easily bruised by the tread of the multitude, may yet be cherished by the solitary wanderer.
Thanks for Hoyle’s quote. Good ideas are everywhere and, yet, that’s as much the barrier to their success as anything. We are in a modern renaissance where ideas can be floated and tested, particularly in thanks to SoMe. But the irony is that the media and motivations are so keen that we literally have too much to consider.