Emmitt Dei Richards
During the information age there is a huge premium on “innovation,” finding that new science of [insert new idea here]. If you are a purveyor of any science news page through social media there is something new discovered everyday that either benefits humanity or doesn’t. From 3D printing, to new discoveries of Paleolithic era fossils being found, to Google’s unstoppable technology advancements, the frontier seems to have no line and no end.
Innovation comes in two different forms and for different reasons:
1. A completely new idea
- to solve an existing problem.
- to solve a problem that may occur in the future.
2. A new idea based on an existing system that is in place.
With billions of people on the planet there are a wide array of ideas that get used that could be marked as genius or quackery. Creative fresh ideas come in all forms from the rich, poor, inventors, and large organizations. Everyone is trying to get that new idea first they believe will change their way of living or someone else, although the reason someone starts this endeavor may be either purposeful or by accident. Sometimes this comes with a financial loss or gain down the road.
Your ability to innovate comes down to finance, passion, amount of risk and most importantly a useful idea. Your “idea” must incite change along with a passionate following but also must make enough money so that it is reproducible/efficient. Don’t get me wrong, monetary value is not always the source of solving a problem, you have to go no further than asking a parent or school teacher for a way to make an impacting, long-standing idea that can affect people around them without asking anything in return, in most cases.
With no monetary value available as a reward in some cases it comes down to passion and necessity for a completely new or a twist on an existing idea. These are huge drivers in some case that could either have a small influence or a big influence within ones organization.
Although there is a lot of positives to innovation one of the major roadblocks, especially when it comes to civil rights, discourse is “tradition” or “it has always been this way.” In some cases this is true, but in other cases it is not. We need to constantly be aware of what we need to change or what we need to keep. Making this judgment call is very difficult at times, especially with opposing views from different parties. Experimentation is sometimes needed in small portions, but in others where there is poisonous culture it needs to be eradicated immediately.
Innovation is key for our society to move forward, but we should always be wary of what consequences lay ahead.