in 1997, statistician David Banks wrote an essay titled "The Problem Of Excess Genius" – why are some periods and places so astonishingly more productive than the rest? His primary examples are Athens, Florence and London + another set of minor examples (Paris, New York) 
he lists out explanations that historians give in conversations (peace, prosperity, freedom, new paradigms), but argues that they don't quite match up to the actual history
his own observations:
- preceding military victory
- high rates of social intercourse
- education (the role tutors in particular)
- preceding military victory
- high rates of social intercourse
- education (the role tutors in particular)
sifting through my other notes, too much work to attribute the wide-range of sources in tweets for now:
- diversity, tolerance
- openness, experimentation
- diversity, tolerance
- openness, experimentation
dutch golden age, freedom of speculation
https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1250118080572710912
kevin kelly scenius post, 2008
- status games within the scene
- high social intercourse
- individual triumphs shared by the scene
- tolerance of transgression
- status games within the scene
- high social intercourse
- individual triumphs shared by the scene
- tolerance of transgression
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