Exuberant Innovations: The Apollo Program |
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Authors: | Monika Gisler Didier Sornette |
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Institution: | (1) ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland;(2) ETH Zurich, D-MTEC, Chair of Entrepreneurial Risks, Kreuzplatz 5, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland |
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Abstract: | We present an analysis of the economic, political and social factors that underlay the Apollo program, one of the most exceptional
and costly projects ever undertaken by the United States in peacetime that culminated in 1969 with the first human steps on
the Moon. This study suggests that the Apollo program provides a vivid illustration of a societal bubble, defined as a collective
over-enthusiasm as well as unreasonable investments and efforts, derived through excessive public and/or political expectations
of positive outcomes associated with a general reduction of risk aversion. We show that economic, political and social factors
weaved a network of reinforcing feedbacks that led to widespread over-enthusiasm and extraordinary commitment by those involved
in the project as well as by politicians and by the public at large. We propose the general concept of “pro-bubbles”, according
to which bubbles are an unavoidable development in technological and social enterprise that benefits society by allowing exceptional
niches of innovation to be explored.
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Keywords: | Risk Bubble Apollo-program United States |
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