Final answer:
Human capital represents the collective brainpower, encompassing the skills, education, and health of a workforce, and is essential for productivity and economic growth, as evidenced during the Industrial Revolution and ongoing technological advancements.
Step-by-step explanation:
The collective brainpower or shared knowledge of a workforce is commonly referred to as human capital. This concept encapsulates the accumulated skills, education, and health of workers, and is a critical component of an organization's ability to achieve productivity and growth. During the Industrial Revolution, for instance, the shift towards power-driven machinery required considerable investment in human capital to ensure that the workforce was skilled enough to operate new technologies and adapt to changing industrial demands. Furthermore, a key aspect of human capital includes cultural readiness and the support for a demographic, such as women, to be active participants in the workforce. The development and effective use of human capital is intricately linked with advancements in technology and increases in physical capital, where the combination of these elements can lead to significant economic progression.