Paul Fairweather: Looking for ingenuity
Ingenuity; being clever, original and inventive.
This magnifying glass was created by a man named Halley, a jackaroo from Brucedale, the property my mum grew up on near Roma. Mum tells me the lens came out of a wartime aircraft.
The lens holder is a piece of galvanised sheet that Halley has used tinsnips to cut notches and fold down tags to hold the lens in place.
I like to think of ingenuity as being the Australian word for Creativity. And as Creativity is about putting two or more disparate things together to make something new, this is a simple yet perfect example of this in practice.
Einstein said:
“Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no-one else has thought.”
And not only is the result of a significant outcome of the creative process, the product itself if the perfect metaphor for looking at things differently.
Birds of a Feather - Paul Fairweather
I have been collecting feathers on my morning walks for Camille to make quills. While standard-issue at Hogwarts, Camille has had to make our own. She was so disappointed that an owl or large bearded man didn’t deliver her invitation to Hogwarts on her recent 11th birthday, but there is still hope as the term doesn’t start till early July, although that hope is now fading.
The quill, the primary writing instrument from the 13th to the 19 century, is an excellent example of ingenuity. Such a simple idea. Sharpening the end of a goose feather, storing the ink in the hollow tubular calamus. It has also been instrumental in allowing humankind to record and share ideas and creations during this time.
Correction - Paul Fairweather
Eventually, the quill gave way to the metal pen, fountain pen and finally ballpoint pen. But during that time, the pencil was being developed, the first version of the modern pencil appearing in Italy in 1560.
Of course, we have come a long way since then, but even the simple pencil is not simple. The is an excellent little documentary called I Pencil adapted from the 1958 essay by Leonard E. Read if you have six minutes spare check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYO3tOqDISE
With the advance of technology, now takes materials and processes from all around the world are required to produce a simple pencil.
Turn of the Screw - Paul Fairweather
The Screwdriver was invented somewhere during the 15th Century, in Germany or France, named Schraubendreher (screwturner) and Tournevis (turnscrew) respectively. It is just one of those things we for granted, but 500 years ago someone invented the Screwdriver. Strange to wonder what life would be like now without a screwdriver, but for thousands of years, no-one missed having a couple of spare in whatever was the equivalent of the third drawer down.
Again, another simple but very useful invention that is the result of ingenuity, and has changed our world.
Sometimes ingenuity is a simple as just turning a screw a couple of degrees. It doesn't have to be about reinventing the world. But take something that already exists, something that everyone else sees, but look at it through a different lens, and think differently about it.
When do you experience moments of ingenuity?
Are there any simple things that you can that can make changes no-one else has seen?
Could you make a pencil?
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