Dr. Aly, O.
Computer Science
Introduction: The purpose of this discussion is to discuss and analyze three terms: Serendipity, Errors, and Exaptation. The discussion begins with some basic definitions, followed with some examples for each term.
Serendipity: As indicated in (De Bonte & Fletcher, 2014), Serendipity can happen anytime anywhere. It can happen through a flyer, or a new perspective or new insight from people you talk to which can provide new ideas hidden in your mind. The new perspective can provide unexpected inspiration. The key factor is to be open to new opportunities, new ideas and ignore the fear that is associated with these new opportunities and ideas as they can lead to discovering an innovation. In (Copeland, 2017), the term Serendipity is used to describe discovery in science which happens at the intersection of opportunity and wisdom.
In (Crampton, 2017; Holubar, 1991), the term Serendipity was coined by Horace Walpole (1717-1797) in 1754 in allusion to an ancient oriental legend of the “Three Princes of Serendip.” Serendip is an old name for the country known today as Sri Lanka (Crampton, 2017). The story described how three traveling princes made discoveries about things that they did not plan to explore or that supposed them during their travel (Crampton, 2017). Thus, Walpole created the word “Serendipity” to indicate and refer to the accidental discoveries (Crampton, 2017). The term “Serendipity” today can mean the ability to make discoveries not intentionally or purposely searched for, and the greater the knowledge, the more likely the discovery (Holubar, 1991). It also infers to a happy and unexpected event which happen due to the chance when searching for something (Crampton, 2017).
There are several serendipitous discoveries in science such as Penicillium which was discovered to make the Penicillin. This serendipitous discovery happened in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, when he found a clear area around the mold (Crampton, 2017). Instead of ignoring the clear area, he investigated and found out that the mold was making an antibiotic which killed the bacteria around it. He identified the mold as Penicillium and named the antibiotic as Penicillin (Crampton, 2017).
Exaptation: Exaptation is defined in (Bonifati, 2013) as a result of a process through which an initial attribution of new functionality to existing outcomes leads to new outcomes. Exaptation is also known as “Pre-Adaptation” (Feltrinelli & Del Garda, 2009). Although Exaptation is regarded to be the most important evolutionary technique in the history of species, technologies, and ecosystems, it is yet little studied and largely unknown outside the field of evolutionary biology (Feltrinelli & Del Garda, 2009). Darwin proposed the “Pre-adaptation” as the solution to explain how gradual process such as natural selection can evolve complex organs whose fitness contribution become positive only when the organ is complete (Feltrinelli & Del Garda, 2009). The term of “Pre-adaptation” is expanded by Gould and Vrba, as cited in (Bonifati, 2013; Feltrinelli & Del Garda, 2009), and coined the term with “Exaptation” for a non-natural selection-driven evolutionary process (Feltrinelli & Del Garda, 2009). In (Gould & Vrba, 1982), the “Exaptation” was proposed for the operation of useful character which is not built by selection for its current role as an effect but evolved for other usages and later “co-opted” for their current role (Gould & Vrba, 1982). Exaptation is described as a central concept in several fields such as technological change, and evolutionary biology (Feltrinelli & Del Garda, 2009). As cited in (Feltrinelli & Del Garda, 2009), Stuart Kauffman states that Exaptation “is one of the most creative forces in the eco- and techno-sphere” (Feltrinelli & Del Garda, 2009).
Examples of Exaptation include the feathers and flight-sequential exaptation in the evolution of birds whose original purpose was to regulate temperature, but over time they were used to aid flight (Barve & Wagner, 2013; Gould & Vrba, 1982; Kastelle, 2010). Another example is the lens crystallins, which are a light-refracting protein which originated as enzymes (Barve & Wagner, 2013). Another example of Exaptation is the phonograph to which Edison attributed the functionality of serving as a dictating machine. However, Edison specified nine other possible uses of the phonograph in a published article in 1878 (Bonifati, 2013). Within the context of technology, Exaptation can suggest that businesses can accumulate technological knowledge without anticipation of its subsequent usage (Andriani & Cattani, 2016). Moreover, Exaptation can emerge from processes through which an initial attribution of new functionalities to existing artifacts or organizations can lead to new artifacts and eventually to new markets in the socio-economic innovation processes (Bonifati, 2013).
Error: The historical and technological records contain various and numerous examples of innovation (Buchanan, 2013). Some of these innovations were by mistake. Examples of the past business mistakes which proved to be brilliant include personal copiers, selling via pet stores, ATMs, credit card for students, organic food, and more.
References
Andriani, P., & Cattani, G. (2016). Exaptation as source of creativity, innovation, and diversity: introduction to the Special Section. Industrial and Corporate Change, 25(1), 115-131.
Barve, A., & Wagner, A. (2013). A latent capacity for evolutionary innovation through exaptation in metabolic systems. Nature, 500(7461), 203.
Bonifati, G. (2013). Exaptation and Emerging Degeneracy In Innovation Process. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 22(1), 1-21.
Buchanan, B. (2013). Alex Mesoudi, Kevin N. Laland, Robert Boyd, Briggs Buchanan, Emma Flynn, Robert N. McCauley, Jürgen Renn, Victoria Reyes-García, Stephen Shennan, Dietrich Stout, and Claudio Tennie. Cultural Evolution: Society, Technology, Language, and Religion, 193.
Copeland, S. (2017). On serendipity in science: discovery at the intersection of chance and wisdom. Synthese, 1-22.
Crampton, L. (2017). Serendipity: The Role of Chance in Making Scientific Discoveries. Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/stem/Serendipity-The-Role-of-Chance-in-Making-Scientific-Discoveries.
De Bonte, A., & Fletcher, D. (2014). Scenario-Focused Engineering: A toolbox for innovation and customer-centricity: Microsoft Press.
Feltrinelli, P., & Del Garda, G. (2009). Exaptation as a Source of Innovation, Creativity, and Diversity in Evolutionary Sciences.
Gould, S. J., & Vrba, E. S. (1982). Exaptation-A Missing Term in the Science of Form Paleobiology, 8(1), 4-15.
Holubar, K. (1991). Serendipity–its basis and importance.
Kastelle, T. (2010). Innovation Through Exaptation. Retrieved from http://timkastelle.org/blog/2010/05/innovation-through-exaptation/
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