In our fast-paced world, we often obsess over who got there first. We celebrate the first person to summit a mountain or the first company to launch a product. However, if we look closer at history and how society distributes its rewards, a surprising truth emerges: being “the first” is rarely enough to leave a lasting legacy.
While being first is determined by a simple temporal test—essentially asking “when” something happened—society places a much higher premium on originality and innovation. To understand why, we have to look at the substance of what is being created and how it changes the world for the rest of us.
The Three Tests of Progress
To distinguish between these concepts, we can apply three distinct lenses:
- The First (The “When”): This is a measurement of time and context. You can be the “first” to do something simply by bringing an old idea to a new audience, like a missionary or a science popularizer. While you are the first in that specific context, you haven’t necessarily created anything new.
- The Original (The “What”): This requires a test of substance. Originality asks what was actually done and whether the idea itself is new. Original thoughts are the ones that shape the human community and dictate the “rules of the game”.
- The Innovative (The “How”): This is a practical test. Innovation reveals the methodology. It doesn’t just show that something can be done; it reveals the most efficient way to do it.
Why Society Rewards the “Pathfinders”
You might wonder why “firsts” are often forgotten by history while innovators are granted status and tangible benefits. The answer lies in resource conservation and survival.
Society is practical. We reward those who make our lives easier. A person who is merely “first” demonstrates feasibility—they prove that a path exists. But Originators and Innovators are the true pathfinders. They discover, invent, or verbalize something in a way that enables the rest of us to repeat the feat with a much smaller investment of effort and resources.
By providing a blueprint, these individuals allow the community to reconstruct a process without having to struggle through the same trial and error.
The Nature of True Discovery
We often imagine progress as a steady, laboriously built tower of knowledge. However, true innovation often happens in discontinuous jumps and scientific revolutions. While we all “stand on the shoulders of giants,” some innovation arrives almost “out of the blue,” creating entirely new contexts for humanity to live in.
Whether it is a leap in quantum mechanics or a breakthrough in genetics, these shifts aren’t just about being first; they are about changing the substance of our reality.
To visualize this, imagine a vast, uncharted ocean. The person who is “first” is like a sailor who happens upon a remote, hidden island; they have proven the island exists, but they haven’t told us how to get there safely. The Original and Innovative thinkers are the ones who map the currents, study the terrain, and build a sturdy bridge to the shore. While the sailor saw it first, it is the bridge-builders who make the island accessible and useful to everyone, and that is why they receive the world’s greatest rewards.
