Oldie but a goodie

Because it’s been a crazy week, I’m doing something new...asking you to enjoy a previous musing. This one is from July 2013.

Top 5 Inventions

Last fall, it was my job to come up with some mealtime conversation starters for the participants of a weeklong retreat. The one that generated the most buzz was “What are the top 5 inventions from your lifetime that changed society or impacted your life?” The ending of the question meant the discussion could be personal or generic depending on how much people wanted to share.

The microchip and technology was number one and cut across all categories such as medicine, business, and even the arts. There was agreement that some medical advances that helped individuals, such as birth control or little blue pills, also affected societal norms and values. Some diners wanted to debate whether the impact was positive or negative. It was hard to draw the line between invention and what we called ‘the next.’ None of us were around for the first airplane (the invention), but did experience going from propeller to jets (the ‘next’).

Think about any room in your home or the different things you do each day. It is interesting, and sometimes difficult, to realize all of the initial inventions and all the ‘nexts’ it took to get our lives to what they are. I have a picture of my folks standing by their Model T and one of my nephew by a race car. If today’s generation made this list it would not include indoor plumbing, the transistor, rabbit ears, the refrigerator, or inoculations but might contain something from the latest episode of Shark Tank.

Whether it’s an improved garlic press or going from the printing press to personal printers, our lives have adapted to the new and/or improved and we anticipate many more ‘nexts.’ If you are waiting for me to share the results of that dinner time discussion, you’ll be disappointed, for I did not keep them. My job was, and still is, just to get the conversation or thought process started. Let me know where today’s question takes you.

Marilyn