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Are both necessity and opportunity the mothers of innovations?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2019

Gili Greenbaum Open the ORCID record for Gili Greenbaum [Opens in a new window] ,
Laurel Fogarty ,
Heidi Colleran ,
Oded Berger-Tal ,
Oren Kolodny  and
Nicole Creanza
Gili Greenbaum
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305gilig@stanford.eduhttps://giligreenbaum.wordpress.com/
Laurel Fogarty
Affiliation:
Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germanylaurel_fogarty@eva.mpg.dehttps://www.eva.mpg.de/ecology/staff/laurel-fogarty/index.html
Heidi Colleran
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena 07445, Germanycolleran@shh.mpg.dehttps://www.shh.mpg.de/person/48693/25522
Oded Berger-Tal
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 84990, Israelbergerod@bgu.ac.ilhttp://odedbergertal.wixsite.com/conservationbehavior
Oren Kolodny
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305gilig@stanford.eduhttps://giligreenbaum.wordpress.com/ Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israelorenkolodny@gmail.comhttps://sites.google.com/view/oren-kolodny-homepage
Nicole Creanza
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN 37212. nicole.creanza@vanderbilt.eduhttp://creanzalab.com
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Abstract

Baumard's perspective asserts that “opportunity is the mother of innovation,” in contrast to the adage ascribing this role to necessity. Drawing on behavioral ecology and cognition, we propose that both extremes – affluence and scarcity – can drive innovation. We suggest that the types of innovations at these two extremes differ and that both rely on mechanisms operating on different time scales.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e199
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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