Waste is one key to unlocking exponential development in any sector or industry.
Until you can afford to waste a resource, you will not be able to break through the iron ceiling of potential.
I have 4 examples to prove my point:
The first is biological systems.
A tree produces tons of seed-containing fruits in the course of its life, even though, there are probably billions of seeds out there that will never get planted, not to talk of become trees. Yet, trees are in no danger of getting extinct anytime soon. Similarly, you only need one sperm cell and one ovum to make a baby. Millions of sperm cells are “wasted” in the process of conception, yet the world population is currently at 7 billion and counting.
My second example is from the food industry.
The American fast food industry only really took off after the country had figured out how to “afford” wasting farm produce. This happened through the mechanization of farm processes. The result? Increased efficiency in the use of land and exponential production of farm produce. At such levels of production, supply outweighs need, and when people are no longer hungry, innovation is never far away. Of course, one of such innovations turned out to be the fast food industry itself!
The third example is paper, which I won’t describe in detail here because I have written about this before. I’d say this, though: Once people could afford to waste paper, groundbreaking ideas could be disseminated far and wide.
The final example is data.
I remember seeing a picture of early computer innovators using a truck to move a 1 MB hard drive.
Yes, you read that right – one megabyte!
Data was expensive to produce, to store and to move around. Since so much effort went into it, no one was willing to waste it.
Fast forward to the present day where data is so ubiquitous and almost everyone spends their active waking hours literally wasting data without giving so much as a thought to it.
But think about how much the quality of our lives have improved because we can all waste data. Think about the software, web apps, and online marketplaces that were only possible after man could figure out how to afford to waste data.
There is a benefit that comes with being able to waste. It allows more room to experiment with different uses of a resource, and like in the archetypal Darwinian struggle, the fittest use(s) for that resource will thrive, while others go extinct. If you’re unable to waste, how can you even be sure that the current use of the resource is the optimal way to get the best out of it?
Innovation and technological development in any industry is constrained by its willingness and capability to waste.
Disclaimer: The “Notes/Ideas Lab” category on my website will contain ideas and thoughts that I have not fully developed. I may eventually get round to fleshing them out into a full essay. I also reserve the right not to do so…
