When you meet a head of state, and you say, 'What is your most precious natural resource?' they will not say children at first, and then when you say, 'children,' they will pretty quickly agree with you.
Nicholas NegroponteRead
Where do new ideas come from? The answer is simple: differences. While there are many theories of creativity, the only tenet they all share is that creativity comes from unlikely juxtapositions. The best way to maximize differences is to mix ages, cultures, and disciplines.
Interpretation
What this quote means
New ideas arise from the blending of diverse perspectives and experiences.
In this quote, Nicholas Negroponte emphasizes that creativity is often sparked by the combination of contrasting elements. He suggests that differences in age, culture, and disciplines can lead to innovative ideas, highlighting the importance of collaboration and diversity in the creative process.
Themes
CreativityInnovationDiversityIdeasCollaboration
In practice
Example use cases
During a brainstorming session, you can use this quote to encourage team members to share diverse ideas.
More from Nicholas Negroponte
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It's hard to propose a $100 laptop for a world community of kids and then not say in the same breath that you're going to depend on the community to make software for it.
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I'm not good at selling laptops. I'm good at selling ideas.
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Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living. Whatever big problem you can imagine, from world peace to the environment to hunger to poverty, the solution always includes education, ... We need to depend more on peer-to-peer and self-driven learning. The laptop is one important means of doing that.
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I've spent my whole life worrying about the human-computer interface, so I don't want to suggest that what we have today is even close to acceptable.
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