# Knowledge frontier Imagine human capability as a high dimensional blob.[^1] The knowledge frontier is the surface of this blob. I imagine the edge of human knowledge and capability (the [[Knowledge frontier]]) as an ever-expanding surface — everything from theories about the cosmic microwave background and the beginning of the universe to the ability to turn bauxite into aluminum via the [[Bayer Process]] and the [[Hall—Héroult process]]. [[Frontier Technology]] is technology that sits on the surface of the knowledge frontier. The Knowledge Frontier is agnostic of the environment and has nothing to do with impact. * [[Frontier-dwellers tend to live in developed places]] * [[Progress frontiers are geographically fractal]] * [[You can only push the frontier on dimensions where you are at the frontier]] * [[It’s hard to discover where the frontier is]] It might be that the [[The tech tree is a scaffolding inside the knowledge frontier]]! [^1]: According to a mathematician friend, the correct term for this is a “compact” but for the sake of evocative language I’m going to stick with “blob” <!-- #mental-model --> [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Knowledge+frontier) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Knowledge+frontier)