Figure 7-1, the only diagram in “The Medici Effect” by Frans Johansson, expresses the multiplicative effects of intersectional ideas (concepts, tools, elements, primitives, etc.) from different domains of knowledge.
The ideas from one domain can be extended only by increments. Conversely, with intersectional ideas, each idea from one domain can be crossed with all the ideas of a different domain — a multiplication of ideas.
That concept, spatialized, shows the Red Round world and the Blue Block world. Ideas are generated from each world and move across the multiplication symbol, “X”.
On the bottom of the X, the ideas hop along the incremental path, staying red or staying blue. The ideas touch the “stepping stones”, indicating small extensions to existing knowledge.
On the top of the X, the ideas fly toward each other, merge, and explode upward in a fountain of wide-ranging ideas. These intersectional ideas are orthogonal to and beyond the scope of either Blue Blocks or Red Rounds alone.
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