[barcadad]

Edison, EINSTEIN, and Musk?? You think that "general relativity project" would never have gotten off the ground without some solid networking skills by Al? Or developing quantum theory from a Swiss patent office? Maybe go with Edison Jobs and Musk instead.

[nicklovescode]

Actually Einstein was great at reaching out to others in the field and discussing ideas with them. He also voraciously applied to various programs to find great places to work.

He’s no Edison in terms of networking, but it is interesting that even a cononical super-nerd creating theories in their basement (or patent-office) still gets value out of it.

[fsloth]

This. The entire progress of science happened because illuminaries and savants started sharing their discoveries and discussing them in groups. There was an enormous amount of individual work involved as well, of course, which was the main element, but without the networking part to vet and discuss the result science would really not have happened.