John M. Hobson's The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation treats ideas as something that travelled with trade. Merchants could notice a useful practice abroad and adopt it for profit, while sailors brought home descriptions of their voyages. New solutions could also combine ideas from different places. Similar inventions need not always imply borrowing, because people confronting the same problem could arrive at comparable answers independently. In the printing comparison, Korean innovation deserves recognition even though Gutenberg's press is judged better suited to mass copying.
Chapter · 2:13:50-2:18:33
Maritime trade carried ideas as well as goods
John M. Hobson's argument about the movement of ideas is illustrated through merchants, sailors, and the comparison between Korean printing and Gutenberg's press.