Great Ideas Are Fragile: Why Solitude Beats Coworking

Cultivating a state of mind where new ideas are born

Sam Altman explains why Y Combinator avoids coworking spaces: great ideas are fragile and easily killed by social pressure. Alexander Grothendieck's solitary years in Montpellier, where he reinvented known mathematics, illustrate the creative power of isolation. The essay explores the state of mind—being alone—that fosters original thought, drawing on artists and thinkers who cultivated it.