We still like to tell the story of the lone genius.

 

The solitary inventor in a garage.

The founder with a vision no one else could see.
The artist, the scientist, the leader who changed everything by force of will.

 

It’s a comforting myth.

 

It flatters our desire for control. It suggests that if we are smart enough, driven enough, singular enough, we can bend the future on our own terms.

 

But the deeper you look historically, technologically, humanly, the harder that myth is to sustain.

 

Because almost nothing that lasts was built alone.