César A. Hidalgo, "The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge" (Allen Lane, 2026)

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Mar 16, 2026

César A. Hidalgo, physicist and director of the Center for Collective Learning, explores how knowledge grows, moves, and decays. He outlines three principles—time, space, and value—and tells vivid stories from failed knowledge cities to postwar recoveries. Discussions span extreme specialization, knowledge recombination, procedural vs factual know-how, and how AI and teams reshape the future of collective learning.

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INSIGHT

Knowledge Is An Infinite Alphabet

Knowledge is an "infinite alphabet" of highly fragmented, non-fungible pieces that recombine to create innovations.
César Hidalgo contrasts granular representations of products/occupations with aggregate economic variables to explain why complementarity matters.

ANECDOTE

Lawyer Charlie Built Wealth From One Procedure

A Florida lawyer, "Charlie," built a niche business extending court cases for $50 by mastering one highly specific procedural skill.
Hidalgo uses this to show how extremely specialized procedural knowledge can be valuable and non-obvious.

INSIGHT

Learning Curves Versus Exponential Industry Growth

Learning curves show rapid early gains then diminishing returns, yet industries can exhibit long-run exponential growth like Moore's Law.
Hidalgo frames the puzzle: how compounding of multiple learning processes yields sustained exponential industry-level growth.

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We all understand that knowledge shapes the fate of business and the growth of nations, but few of us are aware of the principles that govern its motion. The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge (Allen Lane, 2026) unravels the laws describing the growth and diffusion of knowledge by taking you from a failed attempt to build a city of knowledge in Ecuador to the growth of China's innovation economy. Through dozens of stories, you will learn why aircraft manufacturers in Italy began manufacturing scooters after the Second World War and how migrants like Samuel Slater shaped the industrial fabric of the United States. Knowledge is the secret to the wealth of nations. But to understand it, we must accept that it is not a single thing, but an ever-growing tapestry of unique ideas, experiences and received wisdom. An Infinite Alphabet that we are only beginning to fathom. César A. Hidalgo, a world-renowned scholar for his work on economic complexity, will walk you through the "three laws" and the many principles that govern how knowledge grows, moves, and decays. By the end of this journey, you will understand why knowledge grows exponentially in the electronics industry and what mechanisms govern its diffusion across geographic borders, social networks, and professional boundaries. Together these principles will teach you how knowledge shapes the world.

César A. Hidalgo is a physicist, professor, and author known for pioneering work in economic complexity, data visualization, and applied artificial intelligence. For nine years he led MIT's Collective Learning Group before moving to France to found the Center for Collective Learning (CCL), an international research laboratory with offices at the Toulouse School of Economics and Corvinus University of Budapest.

Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network.

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