First Word/Last Word and Technology
So to speak, the easiest way to link the First Word/Last Word concept with the GHC to me is to look at the part of the FW/LW article that discussed how Last Word art is the type that stands the test of time. For example, the telephone, which was invented a rather long time ago, has been recreated and recreated and is on its way to perfection, and that’s the Last Word art. Things like that will show up on the “Plateau of Productivity” area of the graph, as the final form of an idea. They’ll get the “last word,” so to speak.
At the top of the graph, the “Peak of Inflated Expectation,” is where the First Word ideas are- all the new cool things that nobody’s ever heard of and simply the idea of them is enough for greatness- such as the 3D printer. It’s certainly not perfected, but the idea of it is so fascinating and it hasn’t been done before, and so everyone thinks it’s a masterpiece already.
All ideas when they first are incepted are First Word, and the making and remaking of subsequent versions of them are what build them into Last Word.