Monday

The best ideas arise from a passionate interest in commonplace things

 I scored 1120 Q&V on my GRE and this essay argument scored 5/6. It appears that I have a lot of errors, but given the fact that this was formulated in 45 minutes, its quite an amazing feat. English is not really my forte, as it is not my primary language, so don't mock me with my contractions, mistakes and your dumbness. Hopefully I get out of the MBA program with B average because I just finished my first class with 91 number grade which is equivalent to B+, ugh! that hurts.

In a very competitive world, it is essential that you are different from others. Most people who answer this statement would probably tell the story about Newton’s discovery of gravity. The apple which fell in front of him and his quest to answer a common incident - Why did the apple fall? This interest led to a ground-breaking scientific theory about Gravitation. But considering that Newton is one of the greatest scientific thinkers, it is obvious that it requires an extraordinary mind to derive inspiration from what may seem the most obvious of things.

It is true that the world consists of simple things, but how do we magnify the simplest of things, muster our thoughts and look at the world from a different perspective to see how complicated they actually are? I believe that careful and persistent investigation of the most commonplace objects has allowed humans to create its most significant ideas. Thomas Edison agrees with this and according to him, “its one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” But I believe that passionate interest in commonplace things is a crucial requirement for great ideas. Thomas Edison’s light bulb could never be possible without one percent inspiration. As human beings, we know how enthusiastic we are if we’re really possessed by interest and inspiration. When concentrated or devoted, people are always easy to get the inspiration and even reach the impossible.

But do we really need to be smart in a certain extent to transform the most mundane of things to an extraordinary idea? I believe it is not always true because other great scientists such as Charles Darwin and Francis Crick had an average IQ. It is a matter of how we look at things, take engineering for example, a lot of innovations were derived from the prototypes created by nature. Airplanes and helicopters inspired by the flight of birds and insects which led to the invention of flying machines heavier than air.

 This is an example of how inspiration by such common live creatures like birds has allowed humans to overcome the earth’s grasp. It is true that the world is shaped by great ideas, those which arise from an interest in commonplace things. The greatest of the ideas have molded our history and has taken us into a giant leap. The world is advancing each day, the greatest of the ideas strike rarely but when they strike they take us into another level.

The greatest scientists aforementioned did not do different things, they just do things differently. A passionate interest in the things around us, to know why things happen the way they do, and receptiveness to the mundane things are the qualities that separate them from the rest. It becomes evident that we have used the common things as a source of inspiration and new ideas. The ideas borrowed from nature find its application in all spheres of technology. But if you argue that this is the twenty-first century and all ideas have been exhausted, then you are wrong. Ideas are never ending; they keep coming every now and then.

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