Ambient Knowledge
www.quantumpoetic.com
There is the famous Mark Twain quote:
“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”
It’s all about timing and execution.
Tom offers a lucid perspective that contradicts Mark's: https://youtu.be/rPh3c8Sa37M?t=613.
Certainly, Mr. Twain is correct in the estimation that much of what we create is built upon the knowledge that has come before -- Newton was clear on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants. But the notion that there is no new knowledge but "what came before, recombined" lacks perspective on the range of knowledge spanning the discovery of fire to the evolution of social media, or the symbols and language used to describe the latest theories in Quantum Gravity.
We each have the opportunity to contribute a new color to the Palette of Being.