Adjacent Possibilities in Computer Science
In 2002 Stuart Kauffman introduced the world to the idea that biological systems are able to evolve through low energy steps next to the one they just took. This idea has spread to explain all kinds of phenomena such as how Newton and Leibniz were able to simultaneously yet independently invent calculus.
Calculus
Adjacent Possibility postulates that all the knowledge surrounding calculus was out there and that there was a high probability that someone would take the next step and invent infinitesimal calculus. The fact that two people invented it at the same time was not statistically impossible.
So who were these two people?
Sir Isaac Newton was a mathematician, astronomer, theologian, author, and physicist according to Wikipedia. The number of things Newton did could fill volumes of text because he did pretty much everything. He was extremely humble about his great discoveries and in a letter to Robert Hooke he said “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz was way before his time and he and anticipated notions that surfaced much later in philosophy, probability theory, biology, medicine, geology, psychology, linguistics, and computer science and He wrote works on philosophy, politics, law, ethics, theology, history, and philology according to Wikipedia. Leibnitz died supposedly discredited by Votaire (yeah that Voltaire) until later when he was rediscovered for the genius he was.
I don’t think it is a mistake that these two people knew a lot about a lot of things and probably a little about everything else. The number of discoveries they were adjacent to continually increased as they became increasingly cross functional. As their adjacencies increased so did their possibilities.
Von Neumann Architecture
I am typing this on a computer. You are probably reading this on a computer even if it is the small variety we carry in our pockets and occasionally make phone calls on. Our devices share in common the Von Neumann Architecture that lays out the simple building blocks that even modern computers use.
John von Neumann made major contributions to a number of fields, including mathematics, physics, economics, computing, and statistics according to Wikipedia. We have our modern day computers because of polymaths like von Neumann.
Possibilities
We all know that person that can’t stop talking about how great Set Theory is. Set Theory is pretty much the Crossfit of computer science. If you know anything about it you feel like you have to talk about it non-stop. But just like those Crossfitters are probably stronger and healthier than us, those people who know something about Set Theory are probably better programmers than we are.
Why?
They live with more adjacencies than we do. Their investment in learning some extra math allows them to see things we can’t see. This is the real value of diversity. Being able to bring knowledge and experience to the table that no one else has raises your value. That means some time learning economics, molecular biology, cosmology, math, marketing, sales, or something else may be just the kick your career needs.
Putting more adjacencies at your disposal increases the chances of you being able to have breakthroughs. They may be small little time savers or they may be major contributions to our field. It is absolutely reasonable for you to come up with a breakthrough that lifts us all. Everyone else making these breakthroughs is just a person, the same as you.
Conclusion
As the amount of useful knowledge expands it stands to reason that the number of adjacencies to this knowledge are expanding also. By expanding your reach it is completely possible that you can discover one of the adjacent possibilities. Learning things non-core to your field may increase your chance of making a new discovery.
