Analyzing Analogies: Prologue

Several years ago, in a different life almost, when I was trying (and ultimately failing) to do innovative and interesting stuff in aerospace, I had an interesting conversation with an older and wiser aerospace entrepreneur.
At one point he remarked that satellites have been getting cheaper because they're like computers, while space launch rockets are like airplanes and that's why they're not getting any cheaper.

I agree with some aspects of this and disagree with others, but the important thing I took from the conversation is not about rockets and spaceships. It's about comparing things.

The question is:
What makes an analogy meaningful?

The Insignificance of Ideas

A few years ago my friend and partner O and I had an argument over some idea which I considered a potential solution but which was according to him "an idea for an idea for an idea". (FYI Hebrew has no word for "concept")
This annoyed me a great deal, not only because he was putting down our idea but because I felt there was something inherently flawed with this regression, lacking any definition and clarity, beginning or end.

Some time later I realized the key to this unease lay in my knowledge of TRIZ and the way it links problems and solutions.

First Post!!!

What, no?

Oddly, this isn't my first blog... thanks to Rami W, I know this is actually my second blog, the first one consisting of two posts in Hebrew on a platform which failed so hard and fast it wasn't cached properly on the web, much less in my memory.
Entrepreneurs are supposed to be learn from failure, so here I am again, this time on a stable platform and in the Lingua Franca of the day. BTW, if you think you know what Lingua Franca means, check out the link, you may be surprised.

A few other things are different... I've been sharpening my writing teeth on Facebook and occasionally getting frustrated by the lack of formatting and other limitations there. I also hope this time I'll have more things to write about... action oriented things, moving about, going around, coming back...
Perhaps this will be no different than other times, but hopefully at least better documented.

Why a Dialectical Dungeon?

Dialectic is a word that's been cropping up since I've discovered TRIZ and specifically with regards to some recent insights I've had which I'll blog about later.
If you think it's a big word, I must inform you that a blog post about ontological operations is in the pipe.

Why Dungeon? Because dialectics is not enough and because dungeons are cool... and it starts with a D.

What else can you expect?

TRIZ, lots and lots of TRIZ, in the vain hope that someday I won't have to give the same speech about TRIZ again and again IRL. What else, pictures of stuff, things from deep inside the dungeon perhaps... personal notes if I feel like it and last but not least updates and anecdotes relating to my various projects: White Dragon and it's various branches, the not-yet-dead-on-arrival app and of course, The Machine.

Also, if you're foolish enough to think you can trust this list of things to expect, I hope to teach a valuable lesson... Nobody Expects the Ninja Inquisition!