So, today as I was pondering things discussed in my classes, it occurred to me that everyone has the opportunity for thoughts of genius. (writers being one of my favorite examples because they are among the most prevalent of the recognized great thinkers) However, the great limiting factor seems to be having something to think about in the first place. No matter how much of a genius Einstein may have been, had the concept of relativity not wandered across his mind, it could never have been developed (I'm still curious what he may have been pondering in order to bring that one into existence) Or on another front entirely, Philo T Farnsworth invented the television, what gave him the idea of shooting an array or precisely aimed electrons at a phosphoressing screen. Sure, now that its been done, it doesn't seem that big, but neither does calculus (Isaac Newton goes home on a break from college and creates a new branch of math, how often does that happen?)
So what now, I know its harder to recognize these ideas as they happen, but they must still be happening. Are we too distracted to notice them? Are we so busy with TV and Facebook and all these amazing things right at our fingertips that we're missing the next Beethoven or Shakespeare, or Einstein?
And I know that this may seem haughty to some, but I would like someday to have developed my mind to the point where I can be the outlet to ideas beyond our current imagination, to put something out into the world that is so fundamental that in 2 or 5 or 20 years, people think of it as common place.
No comments:
Post a Comment