Malcolm's Razor

There is a line in the 1993 film Jurassic Park that continues to resonate with me several times a year. Jeff Goldblum plays Dr. Ian Malcolm in the film who is a self proclaimed Chaotician. One of his most profound lines in the movie is:

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not the could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

In the context of the story of Jurassic Park, this is a Promethean warning that man will overstep his bounds using science and humanity will be punished as a result. These type of Promethean tales have been a through-line in Science Fiction stories from the start — possibly the best example being Marry Shelley's Frankenstein.

What really has staying power, though, is the phrasing and maybe just Jeff Goldblum's charisma, but this scene and line keep coming back to mind for me and I'm sure millions of people every year when we see what actual scientists and startup companies are up to. This is particularly comical with the rise of hype driven venture capital investment in technology companies.

There are a host of examples of companies spending billions to see if they can make a new technology while they never seem to have considered if they should make the technology. For example, autonomous vehicles. Easily hundreds of billions have been spent developing autonomous passenger vehicles, yet not a single dollar has been made with them. I spent several years working for an autonomous vehicles company and my opinion is that this technology is not needed.

Another example is the current explosion of humanoid robotics companies. Yes, they could be made and one day maybe they can be imbued with useful algorithms, but once again, should they exist? Will they actually fulfill a need in any market?

I think we all can benefit from what I'm calling Malcolm's Razor. Before you invest time or money developing a new technology first make sure you can convince yourself that you should develop that technology.