5 Comments
Sep 11, 2021Liked by Anton Howes

> It is possible to discover that a thing works, and even to use it for hundreds upon hundreds of years. But without knowing why it works, its potential will never be realised.

Great piece. There are probably examples in every field, but in business there is certainly a tendency to try to cargo cult ideas from other successful businesses, but the attempts at doing so often are the equivalent of boiling vegetables here. Or in economics, the idea that aggressively printing money is the only way to get out of a deflationary spiral, which in hindsight took a surprising amount of time to be widely accepted, probably because it conflicted with other ideas people held dear.

Expand full comment
Sep 11, 2021Liked by Anton Howes

A very clever and convenient authentication tool!

Thanx for a most interesting post, which I found depressing. But it is useful in demonstrating the necessity of knowing not only what works, but why it works.

I wonder whether in other circumstances the apparent unreliability of products or processes led to the development of ritual: if you follow these steps in precisely this manner it will be effective; otherwise it will lose its power.

Expand full comment

one of the most important accounts of Arab involvement with Vikings is Ahmed bin Fadlan's book, you should check that out.

Expand full comment