[Ivan Malik]

Originally Posted by JVN

I read a quote last fall which struck me:
Quote:
“An idea is nothing more or less than a new combination of old elements. The capacity to bring old elements into new combinations depends largely on the ability to see relationships.” -James Webb Young"

This isn't a quote from James Webb Young this is a paraphrase of a quote from Vilfredo Pareto that was misused by James Webb Young when talking about something very very far from the way you are using it. You can't take Pareto's theory about the circulation of elites, dust it off twice and apply it to innovation in general, it just doesn't work. Especially considering Pareto basically just paraphrased Marx and renamed some things. This quote, when taken in its original context makes absolutely no sense with the subject being discussed. This is a case of a secondary source cobbling together something and then a third source cobbling it again.

Edit: The irony of this is that Pareto's circulation of elites actually applies to the situation, but not in the way you are using it.