5/14/2024
State: CALIFORNIA
Because of this course, I feel like I have a renewed appreciation for just about everything around me. From where I sit at my desk there are numerous items that I can trace back to their origins: a metal filing tray, a corkboard, paper, ink, pens, scissors, computer monitor, paint, books, paperclips, pushpins, sticky notes, photographs, television, a plastic toy shark, electric lights, a ThermoFlask, my cell phone, the watch on my wrist, books, glass-framed drawings, a Far Side calendar, cans of food for my old cat! I can hear airplanes flying low, the toilet flushing upstairs, my husband watching a television show about fixing cars. The most valuable takeaway for me is to remember to look at the everyday humdrum things that surround us and continue to marvel at how revolutionary these items are - to no longer take them for granted and remember that many things were not invented out of need or want, but that they grew out of the evolving knowledge and motivations possessed by the inventors themselves (and businessmen, of course). Appreciate them!