Research Paper Introduction

Throughout history, problem solving and the creation of ideas have been crucial to the success of war planning and revolutions. Without effective problem solving and ideas, war plans and revolutions are bound to fail. Cathy Davidson, in her work “Project Classroom Makeover,” and Johnathan Lethem, in his work “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism,” each provide methods of problem solving and idea development that, when analyzing specific historical events, have had an important influence on history. For Davidson, this method is termed “crowdsourcing” (51). Essentially, this method states that the most effective way to solve problems is to have the most individuals possible working together to come to a solution. Through this method, the most possible solutions to solving the problem arise, and the group as a whole can choose the optimal solution. On the other hand, Lethem’s method is called “plagiarism” (213). In his method, ideas are formed by taking the ideas or work of others, improving on them, and arising with a new idea or solution that suits the needs of the person or problem at hand. When analyzing the Bolsheviks’ plan for seizing power in the 1917 Russian Revolution and the Allied plans in the invasion of Europe in World War II, these methods appear prominently, with the revolutionaries and the Allied war planners using both methods in determining their solutions. Such an analysis provides revisions and a partial justification to Steven Johnson’s argument in his work “The Myth of the Ant Queen,” and thus a revision to the common belief that single, great people are the cause for significant historical change as opposed to groups of people.