# Crossing the Chasm ![[BellCurveWithAttractors.jpeg]] ## Big idea > _tool_ (n.) > - A tool > - A technique > - A technology ## How to sell tools? Even if we can use a tool to create some utility, [[Utility Can't Be Traded]] [[Homo Economicus]] is a creature of habit and adopts new tools for one of 2 reasons: ### Tool-Niche fitness evaluation The lefthand side has an [attractor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attractor) which centers a minority of the population around a first mean. Innovators have a well-attuned ability to discern how well a new tool is able to allow them to "extract value" out of a niche. See [[Niche in Value Spaces]] Since we are talking about "new" tools, we assume that the tool is not part of the "common knowledge" base of the culture. ### Social learning The righthand side has another [attractor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attractor) which centers a majoirty of the distribution around a second mean [[Social Proof]] See [[Network Effect]] or the [[Flywheel Effect]] for an intuition ##### Inaccurate perception of environment - People gotta understand what benefit is trying to be achieved - The earliest civilization people might not have understood how having grain could be used as sustainable food source - The modeling of the [[Niche in Value Spaces]] does not match reality ##### Unclear understanding of tool mechanics - People gotta understand how to use the tool - A tool might be too complicated and people don't understand how to apply it - "I don't know what this button does" - "I don't understand the sequence of steps necessary to cook this dish" - "I don't know how taking this action with impact my desired outcome" - The interaction of how a tool allows us to move through the Fitness Landscape is unclear > "**Crossing the Chasm: Technology adoption lifecycle.**" Think Insights [Online]. Available: _[https://thinkinsights.net/strategy/crossing-the-chasm/](https://thinkinsights.net/strategy/crossing-the-chasm/)_. [Accessed: April 7, 2022]