Sean's Top 5 Quotes from research

This blog post will explain some more bad predictions that people in the past made with regards to new inventions.

• "Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy." -- Workers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.

This quote is about how people in the past did not think drilling oil would be a viable option. Perhaps the science was outdated during this time, or the heavy cost structure of the operations, with high capex for machinery and equipment was not feasible, given the supply and demand for oil at that time and the availability of oil in locations in more accessible areas.

• "It will be years -- not in my time -- before a woman will become Prime Minister." -- Margaret Thatcher, 1974.

This quote is ironic because Margaret Thatcher made a prediction against herself. She eventually did become Prime Minister. I think the quote also illustrates our changing values and push for equality.

• "With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market." -- Business Week, August 2, 1968.

This quote shows how humans did not understand the transformative power of cars and that they thought just 50 cars was enough.

• "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." -- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

This quote is actually very surprising for me because a common business and economic concept is the concept of cycles, so the professor does not seem to know what he is teaching. There is also a tendency for inflation so it makes sense that in the future the stock market will perform better than it is doing now.

• "Everything that can be invented has been invented." -- Attributed to Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899, but known to be an urban legend.

This quote shows that some people are resistant to change. People often feel complacent once their lives are good and thus may be less incentivized to make new inventions. Silicon Valley today though has a distinct culture of innovation.