# Dispersion does not happen instantly and often requires a lot of work Sometimes dispersion is the bottleneck for a heuretic having impact. Sometimes, it isn’t at at all. That’s why [[One person or class of people do not deserve credit for an innovation]]. In [[neumannOneProcess2020]], [[Jerry Neumann]] points out: `A larger problem is the assumption that if there is a change at one level then the changes in the levels above just happen automatically. This is obviously not true: an innovation in lithography may *allow* innovations in semiconductor manufacturing and then in microprocessors, but somebody has to do that work too. And much of that work is also innovation in itself.` If the interface stays exactly the same between two modules, there is no friction in that interface. Think of electrical plugs. As long as they stay the same, in terms of shape, consistency, and voltage it does not matter at all whether the electricity on the other side is being generated by coal, solar, or nuclear. The friction occurs at whatever level you need to change interfaces and switch nodes. Many different things affect how fast dispersion happens and how much work it takes. [[List of things that affect dispersion]] [[Could you model dispersion as a second order linear differential equation like a LRC circuit or a spring-mass-damper system?]] ### Related * “The future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed yet” <!-- #evergreen --> [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Dispersion+does+not+happen+instantly+and+often+requires+a+lot+of+work) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Dispersion+does+not+happen+instantly+and+often+requires+a+lot+of+work)