It used to be that inventions would change our way of life every century or so. Now, one has to cope with new technology every few months.
In his book about inventions and inventors, published in translation by Dar Al-Maaref in 1964, Fletcher Brat says that the first inventor was the caveman who tied a stone blade to a stick and used it as a projectile. From then on, humanity relied on its imagination to move it forward, literally as in the case of the wheel, or metaphorically as in the case of the waterwheel.
As centuries passed by, we had a better idea about the circumference of earth, the trajectory of celestial bodies, navigation and ship building, all of which we used to explore the world around us. Electricity turned our days into night a century or so ago, and electronics, over the past 10 or 20 years, turned the world into a village. All of these innovations came about because someone somewhere thought of a problem, observed a phenomenon, and then put two and two together.
In its issue of 2 August 1929, the magazine Al-Mosawwar spoke about two novel inventions: one was a typewriter for writing musical scores, and the other was a seat for trying on new shoes.
On 30 August 1929, Al-Mosawwar told the story of a man in Toulouse, France, who invented a vehicle equipped with the basic comforts of home plus a wireless device for communications, the precursor of today's mobile homes.
In "Mind and Invention," Mohamed Abdel-Razeq Mannaa tells a joke. A man goes to the brains shop and asks the salesman about a particular brain. The salesman tells him that this would cost him 25 pounds, because it is German. The man points to another brain, and the salesman says that it costs 30 pounds because it is English, a third brain costs 40 pounds because it is Japanese, and so on. Then the man asks about a particular brain and the salesman says that it costs 150 pounds because it is Arab.
"So what?" The customer says.
"Well, you see, it is fresh, never been used," answers the salesman.
In our education system, learning by rote is valued over inquisitiveness. Memory is rewarded more than analytical powers. And the result is that we fall behind in things that require initiative and innovation.
Fourteen years ago, I recall hearing a computer professor in the Sadat Academy for Administrative Sciences complain about the kind of education we are giving our children. "In other countries, there are children who use computers to control satellites, and here we still play with videogames."
Although one of our teenagers recently won a Google competition for scientific experimentation in space, a competition for which he applied through the Internet, there are millions of our youths who use the Internet only to chat or watch drama.
In the case of Amr Mohamed, the winner of Google's competition, it was clear that family encouragement and competent schooling played a role. This is something we should keep in mind, especially that Egypt's modern development started with Mohamed Ali sending young people to study abroad, people who later on became pioneers of industry, law, medicine, literature, and art.
We use inventions everyday, from the moment we open our eyes to make coffee and shower till the moment we finish our work and sit with friends to chat about today's news or cook dinner. Inventions broaden the scope of our imagination and enrich our experience, and inventions that we come up with add not only to our self-confidence but to our collective worth.
Ahmed Zuweil, the Nobel winning Egyptian scientist, once said: "Neither the West is full of geniuses nor are we dumb. But they support those who fail until they succeed and we fight those who succeed until they fail."* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 April, 2012 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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