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1-Page Summary of Wonderland

Overview

When you open a book in history class, you’re likely to see some serious and dour faces: philosophers debating democracy or Newton pondering the properties of gravity. However, there are other images that may not be as common but have been just as important to human advancement—people having fun. Just as war and conquest have affected human history, our childlike indulgence in games, bright clothing and delicious tastes has also transported us to new horizons.

This article will discuss three key points. First, you’ll learn how a flute laid the foundations for future computers. Second, you’ll find out why sea snails drove early seafarers into the undiscovered Atlantic Ocean. Finally, you’ll discover how producing a single Dorito used to be a year-long mission.

Big Idea #1: Humans’ hardwired desire for play has been an underappreciated driver of progress.

When we think about innovation and progress in human history, it seems like there must have been some kind of need for something to happen.

Many great innovations have been inspired by play. The Banu Musa brothers were Islamic scholars in the ninth century who wrote a book on mechanics and hydraulics, which was groundbreaking at the time.

They presented their machines that they built and explained the principles behind them. These ideas laid the groundwork for innovations such as steam engines or jet engines, which would be built hundreds of years later.

Although their ideas were useful, the Banu Musa brothers began by just messing around and trying to entertain others with frivolous trinkets.

They made dolls that could move on their own, instruments that played themselves and even a mechanical peacock.

The conclusion of this anecdote is that fun and play are far more important than one might think. The brain loves surprises, which means it’s predisposed to engineering discoveries through play.

Whenever we encounter something new, our brain releases a chemical that makes us feel good. This encourages us to explore and seek out new experiences. We may stumble upon important discoveries or unique creations because of mere curiosity or happenstance.

Second, our minds are able to work differently when we’re playing. We can suspend disbelief and make connections that previously weren’t possible.

When we’re playing, our minds are at their most creative. We’ll look at what discoveries people have made while they were playing in the next section.

Big Idea #2: Explorations and playing with sound paved the way for programming and computers.

The dawn of the computer age is usually associated with scientists in lab coats feeding punch cards into behemoths. However, the foundations for our information age were laid in pre-history when early humans began to explore sound and music. Archeologists have uncovered bone flutes that are up to 50,000 years old and they’re still musically recognizable today. These instruments produce harmonious notes based on fourths and fifths from the tonic note, which is still used in many pop songs today. Early sonic exploration was probably inspired by curiosity about nature’s sounds combined with a sense of playfulness we see in young children who pluck out melodies from random noises around them.

The Banu Musa brothers were known for their innovations in sound. They created the first programmable computer, which was essentially a machine that played music. It used levers and pins to control holes on a flute-like instrument. The machine could be programmed by replacing its cylinder with one of many different tunes, which is similar to how modern computers work today.