Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Beyond the title this article is all about complexity versus the great man theory, and barely mentions rhizo narratology at all. No matter. It's still a useful discussion of the role of the individual as a causal agent in a complex world, eventually landing on the position that a person like Steve Jobs is 'necessary but not sufficient' for the invention of the iPhone. I personally am not even sure he is necessary. We had smart phones before Jobs - just ask Blackberry - and a lot of which made the iPhone the phenomenon it was were the design and the marketing, both of which also existed independently of Jobs. Not that I am asserting some sort of historical necessity here - individual decisions do matter. But you need them from many interconnected people, not just one great man.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Aug 28, 2025 9:05 p.m.

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