How to Accelerate Technological Progress · New Things Under the Sun

This essay is a map of the content on New Things Under the Sun that relate to accelerating technological progress. For this essay I’ll basically take it as a given that technological progress is desirable. While I think that’s true, I don’t necessarily think it is obvious (see the article “What are the returns to R&D?” for one theoretical argument for why we should be spending more on R&D and “When technology goes bad” for some reasons progress could be bad). The main message is that there are lots of factors that collectively set the rate of technological progress - it’s not down to any one thing. Unless otherwise noted, all of the below is founded on a base of evidence derived from academic studies. That doesn’t mean it’s correct: academic knowledge isn’t received from on high; it is always contested and always evolving. But it does represent a real effort to think through these issues with data and careful thought by a community of experts. So I think it’s worth hearing. Innovation

This essay is a map of the content on New Things Under the Sun that relate to accelerating technological progress. For this essay I’ll basically take it as a given that technological progress is desirable. While I think that’s true, I don’t necessarily think it is obvious (see the article “What are the returns to R&D?” for one theoretical argument for why we should be spending more on R&D and “When technology goes bad” for some reasons progress could be bad). The main message is that there are lots of factors that collectively set the rate of technological progress - it’s not down to any one t