Friday, April 15, 2011
Stare Decisis, or there is nothing new under the sun
We might zig and zag, but dear reader please stay with me.
As a thought experiment today I wondered how long it would take me to write the 2011 US budget bill. An act of Congress is quite honestly an act of Congress. I wouldn't know where to begin, what language to use and, uh... how many stamps to attach to the envelope. A law is one hell of a complicated technical document, but really it's just substituting language in a previous template. And, any such work is a product of collaborative evolution. We take the work of those who came before us, copy it, and modify it slightly.
Advancement, whether it's a new law, a new invention or a new theory, is a process of absorbing the known, and then innovating with our own meager contributions. Even rapid or sudden inventions are an accelerated version of this process. Sometimes operating within this framework can dishearten the ambitious. If you want to build a better mousetrap you must first research the previous attempts. If you want to sell that you first go work for ACME Mouse Solutions, learn the business, then branch off.
There are very few exceptions to this formula. Even the wunderkinds of the 80s - 90s technology leap had VCs who financed, consultants who knew the marketing game, and Debbie the office manager who could schedule janitorial services.
This is only tangentially related: it is optimistic that we can use the advancements of our predecessors and peers to make neat things. If you want to build a house you first google "how to build a house", then call the architect, then the contractor, who calls the guy who pours the cement...
For some reason my thoughts, and consequently my writings, always drift towards the theme of humanity's drive and soaring achievement. I guess this essay will swerve down that road as well. I just returned from watching Hubble at the local IMAX theater. I can't remember the last time a movie made me cry. But, watching the shuttle lift off, watching the symbol of human ambition and curiosity slip the bonds of earth brought tears to my eyes. My God! What hath Hubble wrought?
We can now look inside the womb of the Universe and see the intimate star zygote. We can see the Red Giants take one last gasp before death. We can do all this through the efforts of those who came before us.
There may not be much new under the sun, but there is a lot under the sun.
As a thought experiment today I wondered how long it would take me to write the 2011 US budget bill. An act of Congress is quite honestly an act of Congress. I wouldn't know where to begin, what language to use and, uh... how many stamps to attach to the envelope. A law is one hell of a complicated technical document, but really it's just substituting language in a previous template. And, any such work is a product of collaborative evolution. We take the work of those who came before us, copy it, and modify it slightly.
Advancement, whether it's a new law, a new invention or a new theory, is a process of absorbing the known, and then innovating with our own meager contributions. Even rapid or sudden inventions are an accelerated version of this process. Sometimes operating within this framework can dishearten the ambitious. If you want to build a better mousetrap you must first research the previous attempts. If you want to sell that you first go work for ACME Mouse Solutions, learn the business, then branch off.
There are very few exceptions to this formula. Even the wunderkinds of the 80s - 90s technology leap had VCs who financed, consultants who knew the marketing game, and Debbie the office manager who could schedule janitorial services.
This is only tangentially related: it is optimistic that we can use the advancements of our predecessors and peers to make neat things. If you want to build a house you first google "how to build a house", then call the architect, then the contractor, who calls the guy who pours the cement...
For some reason my thoughts, and consequently my writings, always drift towards the theme of humanity's drive and soaring achievement. I guess this essay will swerve down that road as well. I just returned from watching Hubble at the local IMAX theater. I can't remember the last time a movie made me cry. But, watching the shuttle lift off, watching the symbol of human ambition and curiosity slip the bonds of earth brought tears to my eyes. My God! What hath Hubble wrought?
We can now look inside the womb of the Universe and see the intimate star zygote. We can see the Red Giants take one last gasp before death. We can do all this through the efforts of those who came before us.
There may not be much new under the sun, but there is a lot under the sun.
Labels: next latin legal term to misuse: amicus curiae
¶ 12:48 PM
