Poll of the Day > Do you think everybody is capable of "inventing?"

(+) Yeah! (+)

....of you students if you try hard enough are capable of being the valedictorian of your class etc. stuff like that.
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I don't think you need to be a genius or anything, but I do think it takes a certain mindset to invent or innovate.
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i disagree with that statement

not everyone would have the resources to even try to invent things like the light bulb.

I think everyone can invent something(even if it's completely stupid) ,but not things as game changing as the light bulb

I think a lot more people have creative potential than the amount that end up doing anything creative, but I don't really think it's absolutely everybody.
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It comes down to the right place and right time, plus alot of luck. Also it helps if you are very priveleged which everyone seems to forget in these cases.

Now with all the legal liabilities and bigger corporations salavating on wiping your existence from the Earth, the cost of entry is high, and largely rigged against you.

But yeah inspiration and innovation can come from anyone and anywhere for anything.

I don't think I could make a light bulb now.
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no, but I do feel like most inventions were always inevitable though.
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Humans "invent" all the time. It's a core part of our capacity for problem solving, where we take the tools we have access to, and use them in a way to accomplish whatever task we currently have. Every single poster on this board has, at some point in their life, used something for a purpose that wasn't what that thing was originally designed for. That's basically invention.

The REAL trick is improvising in that way and coming up with something that a) is universally applicable, b) that no one else has come up with before you. And you either need to be the sort of person who is capable of marketing your creation, or know someone else who can do so.

Because otherwise, you may reinvent something that dozens of other people have already done without you knowing it, or something which has such a narrow range of uses no one would ever feel the need to own it. And even if you invent something absolutely unique and precious, if you can't market/sell it properly, you may find no one is willing to pay you for it, or that other people steal your idea and make millions while you die penniless and alone (which is how most "famous" inventors seem to wind up). In the same vein, it's the reason why so many people today know the name of Steve Jobs, but have no idea who Steve Wozniak is - the salesman often winds up being far more memorable than the inventor.


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In the sense that you're defining the word, I have to say no.
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Most people are incapable. It takes a combination of skill and intuition that not everyone is born with.
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TheCyborgNinja posted...

Most people are incapable. It takes a combination of skill and intuition that not everyone is born with.

yeah but have you heard that saying in the opening post about some teachers having that attitude? I know i've heard it before from some teachers and non teachers as well.
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GhostGiblet posted...

I think a lot more people have creative potential than the amount that end up doing anything creative, but I don't really think it's absolutely everybody.

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People are capable of whatever they can put their mind to. The road to an invention is just a matter of learning, application, and innovation. If you think you can't learn something, or there are things of procedural nature that you just can't accomplish, all you're doing is fooling yourself. Everyone is capable, I kinda don't see why this had to be asked
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don't see why this had to be asked? there were a lot of poll respondents and around 81 percent of them disagree with what you said.
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Clearly not everybody was capable of inventing the light bulb. Most people of capable of inventing certain things, but other things take a certain knowledge and mindset.

dedbus posted...

Also it helps if you are very priveleged which everyone seems to forget in these cases.

lol, just lol. Doubly so because Edison was hardly "priveleged" (or privileged), both in terms of heritage and due to disability.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Because otherwise, you may reinvent something that dozens of other people have already done without you knowing it, or something which has such a narrow range of uses no one would ever feel the need to own it. And even if you invent something absolutely unique and precious, if you can't market/sell it properly, you may find no one is willing to pay you for it, or that other people steal your idea and make millions while you die penniless and alone (which is how most "famous" inventors seem to wind up). In the same vein, it's the reason why so many people today know the name of Steve Jobs, but have no idea who Steve Wozniak is - the salesman often winds up being far more memorable than the inventor.

tbh, a lot of early inventors never looked to make money from their inventions, they just did something as a matter of practicality. Thomas Jefferson notably invented the swivel chair (or is credited with such) -- something widely used today -- yet afaik he neither patented the product nor made a dime from it.
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UT1999 posted...

don't see why this had to be asked? there were a lot of poll respondents and around 81 percent of them disagree with what you said.

The reason you asked was cause you wanted people's opinion on it. And that was my opinion.
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no you implied that the answer was so obvious that you didn't see why this question or topic had to be asked. And i then pointed out that 82% disagree.
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And the way you're spinning this is that it seems you're implying that it came from a place of arrogance or something, or that there's an inherent issue with the implication that the answer was obvious to me. It was obvious to me because I know most people are capable of things that they don't think they are. I'm not concerned if people disagree with me. What's the issue here?
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no that is not exactly what you said. Read the first post you made. Since you ain't going to admit you're wrong anyway i'm putting you on ignore. It's pointless to keep arguing with you.
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I said I kinda don't see why the question had to be asked. It wasn't even the main focus of my post, it was just an ending statement. You're the one that took my words and made it as if what I said was to imply that it was "so obvious". When the whole point of my post was just reiterating your initial statement that

all of you are or were capable of inventing the light bulb etc.

It being obvious in my mind had nothing to do with the focus of my post... I hope you realize that you're the one that has placed emphasis on it

Maybe I should have added a linespace between that statement? Who knows, I'm just trying to figure out why/how my words are rustling your jimmies, honestly.

If you do want to ignore me, I guess that will save us both some time, cause I'm not the one that's incapable of having a discussion here
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no, simple truth is some people just don't have creative minds. but being inventive is made easier by being put in a situation where the item you'd invent is greatly beneficial "necessity is the mother of invention" or however that saying goes.
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Inventing is hard, but innovating is easy!
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