Pythagoras was a great mathematician. He first discovered a relationship between musical harmony and mathematics. Dividing a single stretched string into equal parts produces harmonious notes. What a fantastic discovery! The chords which sound pleasing to the western ear correspond to exact divisions of the string by whole numbers.
Then Pythagoras discovered geometry. As if the whole music thing wasn't enough.
Thomas Edison was the same way. He invented the light bulb and phonograph recording. After lunch he came up with motion pictures.
It's generally agreed upon that Pythagoras and Edison were great men. Sure, they were brilliant and the world is a better place because of their efforts. But what about those of us who have a notion to invent and discover? There's nothing left. They hogged all the big stuff.
My friend Alan is certain that he could have invented something great such as the light bulb. Would Edison have been any less great if he invented one less thing? No. Alan leaves the room in a huff when ever Thomas Edison comes up in conversation; he has a real chip on his shoulder over the light bulb.
At one of those innovation and patent trade shows Alan met the guy who invented the spoon-and-fork-combination thing that is popular among picnickers. Alan tried to convince the inventor guy that he could have invented something great like direct current. But instead, Alan persisted, this guy’s potential was wasted on a strange plastic utensil since Edison already invented it himself. The spoon-fork guy just laughed at Alan and got into his limousine.
Alan does have a point, though. When someone invents a great thing or makes a tremendous discovery they should be stopped. Only one great invention per person, that's fair.
3 comments:
I once tried to patent a parachute-helmet: something you could wear around or have handy if you worked on the top floor of a high-rise building for a quick escape.
When the middle-aged lady at the patent office informed me that my invention would likely rip someone's head off their body, I lost interest in inventing things.
So many dreams are dashed by middle-aged ladies at the patent office. Geez.
My friend Alan believes that the worlds greatest invention is the men's swim trunks -- especially if you wear them just as regular every day shorts and not necessarily to go swimming. After all, they've got the underpants built right in! Talk about convenient; pants with underpants built right in.
What'll they think of next? Imagine how much time you would save over an entire lifetime if you wore nothing but men's swim trunks and no underpants. No washing, folding and putting underpants in your bureau. No putting on underpants before you put on your pants. No taking off your underpants. No knocking the ceiling fan off-kilter by kicking off you underpants straight up into the air.
What about those who choose to squander their "one invention" and instead decide to have a normal life with a normal family and a normal job? If we've already invented our one invention, are we allowed to get non-inventors to sign over their "one-invention" right to us so that we can have something to do after we knock out that first humdinger?
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