Limits to Collaboration

• Academic Limits - research teams are not in a position to disclose their research publically - until they publish a paper. This means that for 1 day out of the year - collaboration can happen. But the months or years that it took to publish this paper - are all behind closed doors. This is a fundamental flaw in how R&D works, and it is is related closely to the general state of macrosocial non-collaboration. It can be considered a macrosocial disease related to collaboration.
• Inventor - the basic psychology of an inventor is that 'I can do something that nobody else has done, and I can do it better myself.' This neglects the notion that all innovation builds upon a vast pool of already existing knowledge. At any point in time, there are many peoply vying for primacy in a certain area. The ones that come out ahead are called 'inventors.' This is a limiting perspective. The truth is, collaborating with others could produce bigger results, if one could put one's ego aside to work together. It is common for people to work alone on a problem, thinking that they could solve it themselves. This is a societally-limiting belief, because results can be obtained faster with open collaboration.