In an article about the cultural ingredients of inventiveness, SFI Distinguished Professor Geoffrey West notes that creativity and social interaction accelerate in cities, one reason they generate so many patents.
“People agglomerate in these places so they can talk to one another, learn what the person down the street knows,” West says. “They may not be doing that consciously, but it’s the buzz of the city they’re participating in.”
The article analyzes a recent Time/Qualcomm poll on people's attitudes about innovation.
Read the article in Time magazine (November 25, 2013)