Have you ever suddenly realized that you’re routinely doing complex tasks that flummoxed you a few years ago? That’s what it feels like to cross a cognitive threshold.

According to organizational psychologist Elliot Jaques, who died in March, skills and capabilities seem to accumulate through a kind of punctuated equilibrium, wherein human ability to deal with complexity crosses a cognitive threshold every 15 years.

It will be interesting to see how the emergence of cogniceuticals will influence this observed rule. 

(Thanks to Art Kleiner and Ross Mayfield for bringing this to my attention.)