How Far We're Behind
Our pace of innovation has been stunning for the last hundred and fifty years. In the last fifty years, though, it's really taken off, and it continues to accelerate.It's incredible, really.
Multiple theories have advanced as to the reason, but I have my own. In the first sixty years of the 20th century, half of the most intelligent people in the population could only be teachers, nurses, or secretaries. Those were essentially the only professional paths for women.
For minorities, it was even worse. There were really no credible paths at all.
We created an environment where only a third of the most intelligent people were allowed into the most intelligent professions. In a fair competition, many doctors, lawyers, and researchers would have been replaced by higher-qualified women and minorities, if only they'd been given the chance.
This problem hasn't been resolved--not even close--but it's less calcified than it was, at least. There are more opportunities for the best people to emerge, regardless of sex or race. So why is anyone surprised that the world is innovating at an unprecedented pace? And where would be now if we'd done this centuries ago?
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