The Nature of Technology
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
The Nature of Technology
| Full title | The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves |
|---|---|
| Author | W. Brian Arthur |
| Published | 2009 |
| Pages | 246 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | W. Brian Arthur’s theory of how technology develops: a technology is a combination of existing components put to a purpose by exploiting some phenomenon, so new technologies are assembled from old ones and invention is recursive rather than heroic. Whole domains open up and reorganise the economy around themselves, which is why change arrives in waves rather than smoothly. |
Where I heard about it
- Brendan McCord — on his Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, March 2026, opening the Science, Technology, and Epistemology section — the part of the list aimed at people who build things rather than only study them. The full 211-entry list is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.
Connections
- Innovation — the process the book gives a mechanism for.
- Complexity — the property of combinatorial systems the argument turns on.
- The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the list this came from.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.