Hey stranger,
In this episode, I explain the idea of how technical systems become more dynamic over time, which could've helped you to invent a multi-billion industry that is flourishing right now in China.
If you prefer reading, you can find the transcript below.
Welcome to The Daily Recall show.
I'm your host, Vasili. In this episode, I'll talk about a simple principle that technical systems develop upon, which could have helped you to invent a multi billion dollar industry that is flourishing right now in China.
I will start with a simple story that all of you are aware of. When the man flight was first originally invented by the Wright brothers, those airplanes, they had wheels. They had these chassis that they used to get up to speed and then to take off.
And let's let's suppose that an airplane is a technical system. Just to give you an idea of the principle that I'm talking about. These chassis that they originally had, were really "hard" in terms of that they did not change their state by any means during the flight process; they just hang out there below the plane all the way through the flight.
But when the airplane industry grew and a plane as a technical object developed towards more and more of its ideal state, they figured out that they actually did not need this chassis all the time. Because when the airplane flies and hides chassis, it creates less resistance with the air so that you basically can fly faster and maneuver better. And that is why they decided to make chassis movable; so that they could be hidden during the flight.
And that is a perfect example of the principle that I want to share with you today which is called the dynamization principle.
The principle suggests that all technical systems that develop towards their ideal state of formless function become more dynamic over time. They come from being really hard, like those airplanes chassis which were there all the time, towards being more dynamic where the wheels are hidden during the flight because we don’t need them.
I don't know if you noticed this, but when an airplane lands or takes off, you have this edges of the wings moving up or down; that’s how they regulate the lifting force. So that's the dynamization principle in action as well. And airplanes that people use in wars, those really fast ones, they have even bigger parts of their wings being dynamic.
So that's an example from airplane industry.
But let's just take this principle and try to solve a problem using this principle so that you can understand it better.
And the problem I want to suggest you as an example is called the sports catamaran problem. So a catamaran is like a boat, which has two tubes filled in with air on its sides. And there is a tiny little thing that connects the tubes; that's where the guy sits who controls this catamaran.
And the problem with that catamaran design was that they were really unstable. And when you turn that thing around, when when you fall into the waters, it's really hard to turn it back on onto the right side, because you don't have a lever below your feet to create enough force to turn the thing around. So that was a really painful experience.
And they invited a guy to solve this problem. And the guy's approach was to make this thing, the connector that connects those two tubes dynamic. Before that it was hard and static; it was just a piece of metal or piece of wood. And you could not change it and was not movable and not dynamic.
And what he did was to make this thing extendable. A good example would be the fishing rope that you probably have seen. A telescopic one. So he basically did the same thing. And that actually allowed to have just enough space between the tubes to meet the requirements of a sports catamaran and to make it easily turntable if the guys falls out. Because when the guy falls out from the catamaran, he can swim closer to it, push a tiny little button, and then that thing connector between the tubes would basically reduce in its length to the bare minimum. So the guy now is able create enough force to turn this thing around, make the connector long again to make it more stable, and climb the boat and rock on towards the finish line.
So that was a brilliant solution of the problem using this dynamization principle.
Another example of the principle is the chair that I'm sitting on right now. On this chair, I can actually go up a little bit and I can go down whenever I want. And another example would be the computer desk that you probably have seen, which can change its height.
Now that you've grasped the idea, let's come to the really fun part. If you know this principle, you can actually predict the direction where the development of any technical system will go. Because the principle suggests that any technical system will start becoming more and more dynamic over time.
And a good example of that would be a flourishing and blooming construction industry in China.
In China, they've got a lot of people.No offense to any Chinese people who are listening to me but a lot more than in my country. And the problem is that you have to settle all these people somewhere. That's why the build these huge blocks of houses which look like the ants house.
But the problem is that there is not enough space for so many people. And that is why they make these apartments really small.
And if you think through how our apartments evolved, you come to realize that they've become more dynamic over time. In the Stone Age, our apartments, more like cages, were really hard and not dynamic by any means. You could move things inside of a rock that you live in very much.
But what people are doing right now and where the industry is going is towards apartments becoming more movable and more dynamic. And if you know the dynamization principle, then you can predict what the next trends are going to be because they'll keep become more and more dynamic.
The logic behind this thinking is that I've got this thing, for example my bed in my apartment, which I only use for seven to eight hours or maybe nine hours a day. I only use it for a limited amount of time during the day, but it's present all the time when I don't need it. And it takes so much space.
So if you think through this problem through the dynamization principle, you'll come to realize that an apartment of the future is going to be very dynamic and components of it will be much more dynamic than they are today. And that is the trend that's going on right now.
And it was so easy to predict if people knew this principle and used it in their lives.
To sum up, if you're thinking about any technical system, an apartment, a chair, a work desk, maybe even your iPhone - any technical system will develop towards becoming more dynamic and having more movable components that are a little bit more dispersed, which is the thing that I'm going to talk to you about tomorrow.
Thanks for listening and see you tomorrow.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
The Daily Recall #4 - The Dynamization Principle