What is impossibility? In ordinary terms, it means something cannot happen or be done. Probability is different. In formal probability, an outcome can have zero probability and still be possible. So by impossible, I do not mean unlikely. I mean it cannot happen.
Impossible is a strong word. Yet we use it lightly, especially at the frontier of technology.
Many ideas that are now real were once considered impossible. The reason is often a lack of knowledge. Something seems impossible when the knowledge needed to achieve it does not exist. We cannot see how it can be done. Much of what we call impossible is simply a facade of our ignorance. With the right knowledge, it may be possible.
Knowledge takes the form of explanation. Facts do not become knowledge just because they are observed. We create knowledge by explaining why. Humans have built and accumulated knowledge for thousands of years, and science and reason have accelerated that process.
Knowledge grows through iteration. It starts with conjecture, goes through criticism, gets refined, and repeats. Through this process, ideas become reality. This view comes from Karl Popper and was later expanded by David Deutsch.
This process is unique to humans. It requires general intelligence, reason, and creativity that no other creature has.
This suggests that our only true limits are the laws of nature: physics, mathematics, and so on. Any problem not directly limited by these laws is theoretically solvable. We simply do not know enough yet. I call this the “True Ceiling.”
The True Ceiling applies directly to startups. Building a startup means solving many seemingly impossible problems that no one has answers to.
I am referring specifically to startups working on research and scientific innovation in frontier technologies. Many traditional B2B SaaS companies use existing knowledge to improve convenience, efficiency, or access. Frontier technology startups often depend on creating knowledge that does not yet exist.
Luckily, most problems can be solved with the right knowledge, understanding, and iteration. Building toward a vision can therefore be reduced to one objective: identify the blockers, understand why they exist, construct the knowledge needed, and clear them.
The loop is simple:
- Identify the blocker.
- Explain why it exists.
- Determine what knowledge is missing.
- Build that knowledge through conjecture, criticism, and experimentation.
- Clear the blocker and repeat.
Keep going until you find yourself standing next to your vision in the real world.
This loop does not end with one startup. Every solved blocker creates new capabilities, and every new capability reveals new problems. In this way, the work of a frontier startup is a small version of the work of civilization itself.
The universe is in constant motion. It is the most complex dynamic system, and it never stops. Nothing is truly static. To remain static inside a dynamic system is to regress. In evolutionary terms, regression eventually leads to extinction.
Fortunately, a dynamic universe creates endless problems. Even with our technological progress, and even if we reach singularity, the universe will continue to present new problems. We, as a civilization, must find answers, build knowledge, and push humanity forward - the beginning of infinity