Laozi's Concept of Technology Innovation: Basic Principles, The First and Second Laws

The author suggested that the concept of modern-day innovation was embedded in the core of Laozi's thoughts. In Chapter One of Dao De Jing (DDJ), Laozi expounded four fundamental concepts: Dao, Ming, Wu, and You; noting that the last two manifest the values of all things in the universe. In Chapter 11, he stated that You defines the application of things, and Wu provides the actual usefulness. The author suggested that You and Wu can be best interpreted by real and virtual, respectively. It is the complementarity and interplay of the real and virtual attributes of matters that create values for mankind, which is at the heart of innovation. The author proposed Laozi's first law of innovation as follows: “All things demonstrate values- in-use through its presence: the real attribute defines the scope of application whereas the virtual brings forth the usefulness.” The second law of innovation can be stated: “All things in the universe are constituted with attributes of real and virtual, in varying proportions. In innovation developments, the virtual phase, the design, comes first”. While DDJ provided some vivid examples of these laws, this author used the development of modern electronic computers and its major elements: hardware, software, semiconductor chips, cloud computing, and social media platforms, as illustrations. Future developments in AI and quantum technology will open more doors to our understanding of Dao and of Laozi, a sage of exceptional wisdom in philosophy, engineering, technology, and innovations.