There's an episode of James Burke's Connections that explores this idea with a bit of depth, I recommend watching the whole series if you have the time.
I can second this recommendation, and broaden it to everything James Burke has ever done for BBC. He is an amazing science scholar, and also quite witty. He makes amazing educational programming. I especially enjoy Connections[1] and its sequel series, as well as the lesser-known The Day the Universe Changed[2] series, about the impact of science and technology on society, from a philosophical point-of-view, rather than the mainly technical approach of Connections.
If anyone close to him is reading this, please thank him for me. I saw Connections many years ago, and he opened my eyes to the wonder of inventions. Anyone can make things. That’s how we got to today, just lots of interworking inventions. He changed my life.
An excerpt from his Wikipedia page[3] I think HN readers may find intriguing:
> Burke conceived a mobile app called Connections that would search Wikipedia and generate associations and connections among apparently unrelated fields of knowledge or topics. Surprises, anomalies, and unexpected perspectives on a search could emerge from using the app. According to Burke, the Connections app would be an innovative alternative to more linear internet search engines such as Google.[12] As of January 2017 the project had met only 1/3 of its Kickstarter crowdfunding goal.[13]
If anyone close to him is reading this, please thank him for me. I saw Connections many years ago, and he opened my eyes to the wonder of inventions. Anyone can make things. That’s how we got to today, just lots of interworking inventions. He changed my life.
An excerpt from his Wikipedia page[3] I think HN readers may find intriguing:
> Burke conceived a mobile app called Connections that would search Wikipedia and generate associations and connections among apparently unrelated fields of knowledge or topics. Surprises, anomalies, and unexpected perspectives on a search could emerge from using the app. According to Burke, the Connections app would be an innovative alternative to more linear internet search engines such as Google.[12] As of January 2017 the project had met only 1/3 of its Kickstarter crowdfunding goal.[13]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series)
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Universe_Changed
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Burke_(science_historian...
[Original Wikipedia links, numbered as quoted]
[12] http://boingboing.net/2016/11/17/james-burkes-new-project-ai...
[13] https://www.backerkit.com/projects/504632459/james-burke-con...