Monday, February 09, 2004

Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking. The previous post re the dialectic between standardization and innovation is just an example of the dialectic between symmetry (i.e., statements that some properties are invariant under certain transformations) and symmetry breaking. (Click the title of the entry -- and all of my entries -- for more information on symmetry and symmetry breaking.) Standards represent symmetry (invariants or fixed points) and disruptive innovations represent symmetry breaking. (Sustaining innovations represent transformations that preserve symmetry.) 7:23:25 AM