[stretchwithme]

Its only a matter of time before everything is figured out.

There have been major discoveries and inventions where more than one person or team were trying to solve a known problem. But is there proof that it is the case "practically every" time?

[nitrogen]

The book What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly (I've got about 40 pages left in it) makes a compelling argument that it is (though it falls short of "proof," which may be impossible in this case).

[stretchwithme]

Yeah, I think you'd have to track every innovation there ever was. And that could take a whole weekend.