Amen. Most people who wish they could discover some great idea and
become famous for it have probably already stumbled across several
good enough ideas. What they miss is enough criticism in its general
sense - the ability to find the holes in bad ideas, and to anticipate
the objections others will raise to an idea. These abilities require
an open critical mind, and also lots of education into the ways ideas
fail and common criticisms.
Robin D. Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/