The Difference Between Discovering & Encountering
Via Dave Winer, an article by Teller (of Penn & Teller) on Columbus.
There is a difference between blundering onto something, and discovering its nature, grasping its order and significance. Farmers in ancient fields had experienced mass and momentum. But we don’t say they discovered Newtonian physics. To discover is not merely to encounter, but to comprehend and reveal, to apprehend something new and true and deliver it to the world.
