Gavin Wood's Thoughts: How Great Ideas Come to Life?

Gavin Wood is a co-founder of Ethereum, having created the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and the Solidity programming language, and also founded Polkadot. In a 3-hour long interview, he shared his views on innovation, childhood experiences, and the future of blockchain technology.

Starting with Japanese Whisky

Gavin said he likes Japanese culture and has a house in Japan. He appreciates the quality of service in Japan and the attention to detail, which he believes is very different from British culture. When talking about Britain, Gavin mentioned that he likes British Indian curry, traditional pubs, cheese, and so on.

Childhood Experiences Shape Character

Gavin grew up in a single-parent family, and his mother had a violent husband. He has vivid memories of that time, primarily a sense of abandonment. This experience instilled in him a deep appreciation for a "safe environment."

The Birth of Creativity

When it comes to how to generate creativity, Gavin believes that creativity often arises naturally rather than being the result of deliberate pursuit. His innovative approach tends to be incremental, based on known things and components that can be imagined to exist, seeking new combinations.

Gavin emphasized that a good "idea" must be constrained by practical feasibility. True creativity is being able to see a path to making something happen, believing it could be helpful to the world, and that no one has tried it this way.

Misunderstood Challenges

As an inventor who often stands at the forefront of the times, Gavin admits that he is often misunderstood. He believes that it is indeed difficult for people to grasp a completely new concept, especially when they may not fully understand the limitations of existing technologies.

Key to Driving Major Breakthroughs

Gavin believes that a deep understanding of knowledge is key to driving significant breakthroughs. He emphasizes that one should not only pursue immediate practicality but should instead be committed to a deeper understanding, which may lead to multiple significant outcomes.

Gavin positions himself in the middle ground between immediate practicality and pure theory. He hopes to propose new engineering understandings that could serve as the foundation for the next generation of systems, delivering significant performance improvements.