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Why You Never Hear About World-Altering Inventions Created by Committee
Gizmodo ^ | March 1, 2012 | Gizmodo

Posted on 03/01/2012 3:43:42 PM PST by James C. Bennett

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1 posted on 03/01/2012 3:43:48 PM PST by James C. Bennett
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To: James C. Bennett

The deeper commentary is actually about the power of the individual.


2 posted on 03/01/2012 3:47:17 PM PST by struggle (http://killthegovernment.wordpress.com/)
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To: James C. Bennett
Why You Never Hear About World-Altering Inventions Created by Committee

How about the atomic bomb?

3 posted on 03/01/2012 3:52:36 PM PST by al44
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To: James C. Bennett
Photobucket
4 posted on 03/01/2012 3:54:28 PM PST by SkyDancer ("No Matter How The People Vote There Will Always Be A Federal Judge To Over Turn It")
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To: James C. Bennett

” a camel is a horse designed by committee !”

Yes, they do like meetings, that’s were I get to explain why I’m not accomplishing anything, but got to keep it short, I’ve got a conference call coming up.

I see it everyday :(


5 posted on 03/01/2012 4:00:13 PM PST by JMJJR ( Newspeak is the official language of Oceania)
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To: James C. Bennett

Corporate meetings aren’t about making decisions, they’re about diffusing blame. I’ve never attended one where the outcome wasn’t known in advance, the only reason for showing up was to collect CYA material.


6 posted on 03/01/2012 4:01:01 PM PST by Mountain Troll (My investment plan - Canned food and shotguns)
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To: JMJJR

I always thought it was funny when someones cell phone rang in a meeting and all the engineers would look (hopefully) at their phones. The winner would get an exit ticket.


7 posted on 03/01/2012 4:06:44 PM PST by al44
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To: Mountain Troll

We have things called “steering committees” that should be called “braking committees”.


8 posted on 03/01/2012 4:14:51 PM PST by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: struggle

Or the necessity of the individual... Genius doesn’t happen in groups, and it doesn’t happen according to a central plan. Take energy issues for example. I am not the least bit worried about “our energy future”. Sure, some day we will have any number of alternatives to oil and at least one really good one. But the power of innovation is not magic to be summoned at will. No one can regulate technology into existence. No law can demand the next scientific breakthrough. It is free people, free minds and markets for their ideas that are the incubator of innovation.

Markets are always hungry for more efficiency, more power, more effective ways of doing things. Innovators even now are developing incredible new things all around us. New materials, new fuels, new processes are always bubbling up and finding their place. Left alone, resources naturally find their way to their most effective use. Markets reward success and inspire more of it.

The central planners and the committees will always get it wrong. They waste scarce resources and time and reward failure.


9 posted on 03/01/2012 4:14:58 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us one chance in three. More tea anyone?)
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To: Ramius

Am I wrong or did the founding of this country come about by committee? Seem to remember there were multiple signatures at the end of the final document.


10 posted on 03/01/2012 4:27:32 PM PST by pacpam (action=consequence and applies in all cases - friend of victory)
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To: James C. Bennett

An old saying fits this very well.
“A camel is a horse designed by a committee.”


11 posted on 03/01/2012 4:28:19 PM PST by Tupelo ( 2012 TEA PARTYER but no longer a Republican)
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To: al44
How about the atomic bomb?

That's an interesting case. Though, I suppose it wasn't really the Manhattan project group that -invented- it. The idea and the theory had been discussed among physicists for some time already. Actually building one was a complex project that required lots of resources. I'm not really sure who -first- realized that it might be done, but it had to have started with someone that first concieved it.

12 posted on 03/01/2012 4:30:39 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us one chance in three. More tea anyone?)
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To: pacpam

It was a good idea that spread.


13 posted on 03/01/2012 4:32:17 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us one chance in three. More tea anyone?)
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To: Ramius

I thought it was Einstein who figured out that a bomb could be a theoretical possibility, and then wrote to the US president of the time warning that the Germans could have it if America didn’t initiate a programme...


14 posted on 03/01/2012 4:36:20 PM PST by James C. Bennett (An Australian.)
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To: Tupelo
So is a


15 posted on 03/01/2012 4:38:01 PM PST by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: al44

Yup,

LOL, I have my cell set to speed dial itself, just for such occasions.


16 posted on 03/01/2012 4:40:31 PM PST by JMJJR ( Newspeak is the official language of Oceania)
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To: Ramius
I believe it was Szilard who first put the pieces together that such a thing was possible. Other physicists soon followed. Luckily, we had the will, the engineering, and scientific know-how to construct the thing before the nazis or the japanese. But the construction itself was delegated into a number of “committees”.
17 posted on 03/01/2012 4:50:20 PM PST by al44
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To: James C. Bennett
HTML 5 ?

BWahahahahahaha

18 posted on 03/01/2012 4:51:39 PM PST by BRL
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To: SkyDancer

Hmmmm ... I see more than one "Mr. Wright".

19 posted on 03/01/2012 4:54:53 PM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: pacpam
Am I wrong or did the founding of this country come about by committee?

Both the Declaration of Independence (on which I just finished a very interesting book) and the Constitution were most definitely the work of committees.

Another example of an amazing work produced by committee is the King James Bible.

20 posted on 03/01/2012 5:16:25 PM PST by Sherman Logan
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