Is innovation increasing or receding?
We have 3d printers, cars that park themselves, iPhones and apps, and advances in robotics. At 7 billion there are more of us to create and innovate than ever before. And yet this week the Economist’s main article is highlighting the number of scientists who think that we’re not only in an economic recession but also a recession of innovation, invention and creativity.
Given that one of the premises of a book that I’m currently writing is in fact the opposite (that we’re living in a creative revolution) I immediately sought to challenge their article. But what do you think?
Battison's Blog 
Well I can only think that the scientists consider the current times to be uncreative in a relative way. Not relative to prior times but in comparison to the amount of knowledge available to allow for creative solutions versus the amount of creative solutions coming through.
For example, we can see much proof of concept and prototypes in environmentally friendly fields, (solar power, bio-degradable materials, etc) yet these ideas aren’t being capitalised upon.
Such people often consider the reason for this to be vested interests, i.e. oil-barons, etc, so if we are to assume that the current times have more power concentrated in the hands of a few than at anytime in the last 50 years, there may be a point to there suspicions.