Serendipity, Error, and Exaptation

 

Examples of discovery by serendipity:

OpenOrganization (2021)categorizes innovation from three different angles. First, it can be a discovery that is being sought. The second category is where the discovery was initially being sought but found an unexpected way. The third category is whose use is different from what was initially sought. The first and second innovations can be taken as discoveries by serendipity.  A famous example of the third category is Penicillin.  Alexander Fleming(1881-1995) discovered Penicillin while studying Petri Dishes. In General,  Serendipity is a chance of innovating something while trying to accomplish a specific task in a satisfactory way (Gaughan,2010). Another old example of discovery with serendipity is gravity by Newton(Kamprath & Henike, 2019). Newton discovered gravity when an apple hit his head. Hence, Newton deduced the connection between the apple and the moon's rotation to develop the theory of the gravitational force. Furthermore, Coca-Cola has been discovered initially for medical purposes, but it is now used as a refreshing drink.  

Examples of discovery by error:

When it comes to error, it can be anything that a particular action executed incorrectly, but the result is still valuable. This scenario mostly happens while developing an application where specific errors in each code can resolve other issues that were already there in the application. Viagra is one of the examples that was discovered (Dovey,2014).  Flattery(2014) described Instagram as an example of an error organically discovered as a gambling photo app. 

Examples of discovery by exaptation

Exaptation is different from serendipity because exaptation occurs when the state or the object's form is changed to another form. It means the innovation is happening when an object's organic shape is transformed into another form. A good example is how cryptocurrency currently works. Bitcoin is presently representing the financial system as alternative cash. Furthermore, Kastelle (2010) described exaptation as a revolutionary change that adapts to several conditions. In this regard, a bird's feather is created to adjust to a temperature and, through revolution, helps to fly.    

 

 

References

 

 

Dovey, D. (2014). From Penicillin to Viagra: 4 amazing medical discoveries found by accident. Medical Daily. Retrieved from http://www.medicaldaily.com/penicillin-viagra-4-amazing-medical-discoveries-found-accident-280958

Flattery, B. (2014). Innovation Comes From Trial, Error, Error, Error. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/brendan-flattery/innovation-comes-from-trial-and-error_b_5758192.html  

              Gaughan, R. (2010). Accidental genius: the world's greatest by-chance discoveries. Metro Books. ISBN 978-1-4351-2557-5.

 

Kamprath, M., & Henike, T. (2019). Serendipity and innovation - Beyond planning and experimental-driven exploration. In (pp. 343-360).

 

Kastelle, T. (2010). Innovation through Exaptation. Retrieved from http://timkastelle.org/blog/2010/05/innovation-through-exaptation/

 

OpenOrganization. (2021). Serendipity and Innovation. Retrieved from https://open-organization.com/en/2010/04/25/serendipity-and-innovation/

 

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