Stephen Monrad

I have been watching a lot of TED talks online. They are very good. It is fun to watch people talk about things they are passionate about.

Charles Elachi, a director at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, gave a talk (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/charles_elachi_on_the_mars_rovers.html) on Mars rovers and cited the following quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” For Elachi, this means that it is best not to look in the same places other people are looking. There is more to be gained by trying brand new things than making incremental improvements to existing ideas.

This struck a chord with me because this is exactly what I am doing with my economics ideas. The ideas are far outside the mainstream so I am definitely looking in new places. The way I am trying to develop and promote my ideas outside of academia is also unusual. The work I am doing may go nowhere. However, if I am successful, I like to think that I will leave a trail that others can follow. It’s a nice image.

At a deeper level, I think that while there are usually many obstacles in the way of trying new things, the potential gains are huge. People with different ways of doing things need to be encouraged to take risks.