The "adjacent possible" — and how it explains human innovation | Stuart Kauffman

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2023

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From the astonishing evolutionary advances of the Cambrian explosion to our present-day computing revolution, the trend of dramatic growth after periods of stability can be explained through the theory of the "adjacent possible," says theoretical biologist Stuart Kauffman. Tracing the arc of human history through the tools and technologies we've invented, he explains the impact human ingenuity has had on the planet -- and calls for a shift towards more protection for all life on Earth.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective.
0:02.0	Audio Collective.
0:04.0	You're listening to Ted Talks Daily.
0:10.0	I'm Elise Hugh.
0:14.0	Stuart Kaufman founded an idea called the adjacent possible.
0:18.0	It's a mathematical theory that helps us understand, well, what's possible.
0:23.1	In his talk from Ted 2023,
0:24.9	he explains the science behind deducing
0:27.6	what happens next after the break. Amina is an activist during the Arab Spring.
0:36.0	Her blog Gay Girl in Damascus attracts readers from around the world.
0:41.2	When she's mysteriously abducted, her followers mobilize, desperate to save her.
0:47.2	What they find shocks them.
0:49.6	I'm Samira Moedin, the host of Gay Girl Gone.
0:53.6	A new six-part series from CBC.
0:56.5	Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
0:59.8	2,500 years ago, Heraclitus said,
1:04.0	the world bubbles forth.
1:07.0	Here's bubbling.
1:09.0	What is actual now enables what is next possible, the adjacent possible.
1:15.0	The biaster has been bubbling forth for 4 billion years,
1:20.0	creating new possibilities in the universe in that bubbling,
1:24.0	it's critical that physics cannot talk at all about bubbling new bubbles.
	...

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