Death and the exhaustion of Telomeres!

Cell biology has discovered cell division, the constant process of division and renewal of cells ceases when telomeres, which are the ends of chromosomes progressively shortened and finally exhausted making further cell division impossible. The cell's dividing limit is the natural end of life. Prolonging life depends on genetic engineering finding ways to extend this dividing limit by spending less and less of telomeres on each cell division.

Creative Life Cycles!

I was reading David Galenson and Joshua Kotkin's interesting article in LAT-WP on the two types into which creativity or innovation can be broadly divided into. One is 'Conceptual Innovation' and the second is 'Experimental Innovation'. They differ in their goals and methods.

Conceptual Innovators aim to express new ideas or particular emotions. Their confidence and certainty allow them to achieve this quickly, often by radically breaking rules of disciplines they have just entered.

Experimental Innovators try to describe what they see or hear. Their careers are quests for styles that capture the complexity and richness of the world they live in.

Our society prefers the simplicity and clarity of conceptual innovation in scholarship and business. Yet the conceptual Bill Gateses of the business world do not make the experimental Warren Buffets less important. Recognising important experimental work can be diffcult, these contributions don't always come all at once.