Cambrian explosion
nounUK /ˈkam.bɹɪ.ən ɪkˈspləʊ.ʒən/ · US /ˈkæm.bɹi.ən ɛkˈsploʊ.ʒən/
Etymology Of unclear origin, inspired by George Gaylord Simpson's description of "explosive" evolution. The earliest known use is in a BSCS high school biology textbook written in 1961 under the direction of paleobotanist Wilson Steward.
1
Broadly The rapid appearance of anything.
- There has been a Cambrian explosion of cryptocurrencies.
- When we examined the detailed history of the evolution, we fond large gaps of time in which little happened at all. Then we saw the sudden appearance of a key circuit (an enabling technology) and quick use of this for further technologies. A full adder circuit might appear after say 32,000 steps; and 2-, 3-, and 4-bit adders fairly quickly after that. In other words, we found periods of quiescence, followed by miniature "Cambrian explosions" of rapid evolution.2009, W[illiam] Brian Arthur, The Nature of Technology: What It Is and How It Evolves, London: Allen Lane, Penguin Group, →ISBN:
4 more examples
- Before the Web, it was hard to imagine alternatives to management orthodoxy. But the Internet has spawned a Cambrian explosion of new organizational life forms—where coordination occurs without centralization, […]2011 November 16, Gary Hamel, “Gary Hamel on ‘Hacking Management 2.0’”, in Saba Software; quoted in Marco Minghetti, “Foreword”, in Collaborative Intelligence: Towards the Social Organization, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014, →ISBN, page xxix:
- The men and women of the Renaissance period likely had little inkling of the truly titanic changes that were unfolding around them, let alone the ability to predict where it would all end up. Nevertheless, many of their legacies remain with us today: the birth of modern nation-states; the expansion of political rights and freedoms; the rise of the university, the media, and the industrial corporation; and a Cambrian explosion of science, medicine, knowledge, and cultural expression.2012, Don Tapscott, Anthony D. Williams, “Five Principles for the Age of Networked Intelligence”, in Macrowikinomics: New Solutions for a Connected Planet, paperback edition, London: Portfolio/Penguin, →ISBN, part I (From Wikinomics to Macrowikinomics):
- With the advent of mass media in the 1960s, immortalized in the TV series Mad Men, the pace of brand introduction, sophistication, and importance accelerated dramatically. The world has witnessed a "Cambrian explosion" of brands.2017, Jan-Benedict Steenkamp, “The Cambrian Explosion of Brands”, in Global Brand Strategy: World-wise Marketing in the Age of Branding, London: Palgrave Macmillan, →DOI, →ISBN, page 2:
- The internet has caused a Cambrian explosion of creative expression by allowing artists to execute and distribute their visions with unprecedented ease.2025 May 5, Spencer Kornhaber, “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN: