Globalisation has opened up new vistas. Gone are the days
when we had to look forward for some acquaintance in a foreign land to get quality
products. As all the popular global
brands is just shopping mall distance away in India. Adorning the new charms of
the shopping malls is the newer and fascinating stuff of electronic gadgets.
Hardly anyone can resist the charms of these wonderful and constantly transforming
electronic devices. In the age of product revolution, everything can be zeroed
down to asking- Is the World becoming more inventive?
The latest know-how, the scientific progress and the comfort
of the modern day is the product of numerous innocuous inventions. In
conventional life, most of the inventions solve the problem which we haven’t
thought could be solved. Hence they play a major role in changing the direction
of our lives collectively. The TIME magazine has conducted a poll on inventions
in collaboration with Qualcomm. It conducted a survey of 10,197 people spread
across seven mature markets (South Korea, US, Germany, Sweden, UK and
Singapore) and ten emerging markets (South Africa, Kenya, Russia, UAE, China,
Turkey, India, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia) has come up with some interesting facts
about various aspects of invention, inventiveness and inventors. As per the
results of the survey, Thomas Alva Edison is remembered by people as a great
inventor who notched up 27% of votes followed by Albert Einstein, Alexander
Graham Bell, Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs. He indeed has 1093 patents to
his credit.
Another aspect that springs up is- how the innovation appears
so obvious for some whereas it is opaque and so elusive for others or simply
how inventiveness hits a person? Is it a result of continuous thinking about
inventing or flashing brilliantly as the famous Newton’s falling apple or
Archimedes plunge in his bathtub? Most of the times inventions are product of
mere doggedness, cussedness and grinding away until it finally yields. The
survey reveals that people of South East Asia, especially those from Indonesia
believe that inventiveness is a quality that can be learned. Inventiveness
takes a front seat when the effort is collective as opposed to solitary
geniuses working on the innovation. Much against our common perceptions, love
of inventing, necessity and social good are the real motivators for invention
and money is not usually the main driving force.
The most important attributes of inventor is power of
imagination followed by curiosity, persistence, good problem solving skills,
self-belief, scientific reasoning skills. The US stands out to be the most
inventive country of the past century for the vast number of innovations it has
birthed. The reason for its innovative success may be attributed to the fact that
it is a young country pretty much devoid of traditions, institutions and other
cultural harnesses that slow down the competition. But now it has matured into
a cranky, complacent middle age, is now looking towards older civilisations and
cultures like China, Korea and India. Now, China is touted as the rising
economic power of the 21st century.
On an average 65% considered that inventors are special
people and 35% thought anyone can be one. These numbers varied with different
countries-South Korea, the inventive powerhouse 32% of people believe that inventors
have special qualities. Another important feature observed in the emerging
markets is that most of the powerful business decision makers asserted that
they belong to category of inventors. This clearly indicates that in a growing
economy, business leaders have to constantly innovate and create a new niche
for their products to stay ahead in a competitive market. It is more to do with
the survival techniques.
It is now more important to know the roots of genius which
are much deeper and older. Obviously, education system is believed to cast a
strong influence on the individual’s ability to be creative and develop an
inventive culture. Only 32% in emerging countries and 23% of the developed
countries thought that education was sine qua non for invention. There is great
deal of difference between the education system of east and west and by far
traditional western schools encourage inquiry, open debate and independent work
as against the education in east which is more cumbersome. In east emphasis is
laid on the art of mastering large volumes of information and reproducing it
from memory in exams. Both were considered good in their own way but western
education inculcates the art of creativity.
The most crucial part of inventiveness lies in its protection.
This in particular has to be offered by the countries in the form of patents. Patents
have become the latest indicators of creativity as they induce people to create
and find an opportunity to have ownership over the same. 14 out of the 17
countries surveyed had scored to 90% while in India it was mere 72%. A robust
patent system is necessary for fostering inventiveness. The US is commended as the best place for protecting
the intellectual rights followed by Germany.
Electricity, The internet and the wheel are rated as the most
valuable inventions so far and Cell phone in particular is considered as the
most important invention in the human history. The most inventive period
worldwide is certainly the present age or the space age (1957-present) where
people have witnessed a greatest period of revolution in all spheres of
science. Survey indicates that more than 50% opine that there is further scope
for innovation and the most likely sectors for big innovations are electronics
and computer hardware followed by health care and pharmaceuticals. Next best
innovations are also expected in energy sector with China spear-heading the
clean-energy market.
Actually creative minds create, but where and how they live brings
about marked difference in their output. People have identified certain
potential obstacles in the path of inventors. While Indians considered that
political instability as the major block, South African’s blame it on poor
education system and lack of resources and Indonesians justify the lack of
government protection for inventor’s rights as the main road block for
invention.
New inventions have practically swept
off the World with the power of new solutions they offered and made the world a
much better place to live. Finally it all trickles down to the one single
aspect, the ingenious mind, the hot seat of innovation. Usually the insights of
subconscious mind connect the loosely held pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and pass
it over to the conscious which gives the final form to marvellous innovations.
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