# Objectives vs. Stepping Stones Stanley talks about the shorting comings of Objectives in his book *Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned*. In his conversation on MLStreetTalk he states: > It is true that the ultimate principle that the book is advocating for does lead you to a point where you do not know where you are going. Therefore it is not designed to produce a particular outcome that you had in mind before you went off on this journey. You can maximize the potential for producing something really interesting if you’re willing to drop knowing what that interesting thing is going to be. > > In the long run that basically means that you are generating ***stepping stones***. So it means that *all* of the things that we hope will happen in the future become more likely, but not any *particular* thing. > > The most stepping stones we have, the more places we can get. Objectives vs interestingness * [The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius](http://www.paulgraham.com/genius.html) (note about Newton) * [#038 - Prof. KENNETH STANLEY - Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhYGXYeMq_E&t=5683s) * Risk has to be tolerated to make great discoveries * accumulation of information * Is innovation exploitation of environment? We must remember that *we* are part of the environment * How can we be stepping stone collectors, trying new ideas fast? --- Date: 20221218 Links to: Tags: #review References: * [#038 - Prof. KENNETH STANLEY - Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned - YouTube](https://youtu.be/lhYGXYeMq_E?t=5415)