The new mother of invention

Everyone knows that necessity is the mother of invention. We have been told this since the time we were in school.

But, I think this has changed in the past few decades. Necessity no more is the mother of invention. Invention has been adopted by none other than good old curiosity. So at present, Ms. C is the mother of invention. Or if we go by what Jason Mraz says, then it is Mr. Curiosity; but then it would be the father.

Moving on, till the time that all the now basic things were being invented, it was necessity that drove the wheels of invention. We needed electricity, we needed faster means of transportation, we needed the gas stove, we needed the safety match-stick and many many more things. But did the guy who designed the iPod or the color printer or even the cordless phone need any of those. He was just curious about what the possibilities of stretching the use of a certain technology beyond what was envisioned for it by others are.

Curiosity to find out how much the boundaries of possibilities can be pushed. Curiosity to find out what happens when the supposed wrong buttons are pushed. Even the curiosity to google something just because it is bothering you too much. Being insanely curious is a gift I believe. 

In a knowledge economy, curiosity is going to be the most important driver of growth. The country, the organisation, the department, or even the team with the most number of curious individuals is going to succeed.

Albert Einstein once said:

I do not have any special talents, I am just passionately curious

How curious are you?

Posted via email from Aditya's Blog