Idleness Is The Father Of Invention

IDLENESS IS THE FATHER OF INVENTION

successful delivery of Master Invention

Mother Necessity earned much fame for her maternity and the successful delivery of Master Invention and then its siblings. The human race is all praise for the genius she offered to the world. About 10 million years ago, the first offspring Stone Tool saw the light of the day.

Of course, Necessity was its mother. The necessity of Homo Habilis to save their lives living in an open, challenging animal world. And then the siblings also came one by one by the same mother Necessity- the technique of generation of fire by friction and the wheel not less brilliant than the siblings. And Necessity freed the human race from caves and jungles and established it in villages and towns.

series of inventions

But the mystery remained unsolved about the paternity of the series of inventions. The whole world is shouting, rather turning it into a slogan that ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ that no one can question the legality of the motherhood claim but at the same time no one cares a two damn’ as to who is the father of so many invention children. Might be that in the beginning, it was a matriarchal society and who cared about the unfortunate father to jointly receive such a prestigious award of being parents of so promising and creative children.

So it was always mother, it was always Madame Necessity when any of the Inventions was referred. So the father remained in a hibernated anonymity for centuries. Behind every invention, it was Mother Necessity, whether it was a needle, windmill, gunpowder, paper, telescope, bulb, steam locomotive, or whatnot.

paternity of invention

I have asked so many of my friends, philosophers, and guides about the paternity of invention. Well, to carry on their authority, they tempted to answer, just gave a wise smile, but at last fumbled for the right answer and at a loss to reach to some convincing outcome they just parried the question, terming it absurd.

So I tried to follow the old proverb, ‘If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.’ Holy cow, I can’t accept any spirituality behind the birth of invention. It can never have its links to biblical miracles. The virgin Mary and Jesus- the savior of the world. No spiritual peckings. And I am too far outdated for the fashion of linking the questions beyond reason to something parapsychological, religious, or eerie. The paternity of invention must be decided in the family tree constructed by reason.

list of all the inventions chronologically

And then I began the brain itching. Went through the list of all the inventions chronologically. The 20th and 21st centuries’ inventions struck my brain. Most of them showed the lesser will of necessity. Her father was flexing his muscles- no more remaining hen-pecked rather turning into the more commanding role of the master of the house. The inventions hated manual labor- the inventions were based on the command.

You don’t have to even move to get the work done. You just need a remote in your hand. Don’t move from the sofa or bed to change the channel of T.V., just click the button on the remote in your hand. And the prosaic newsreader of BBC or CNN or DD will turn into a Madonna, a Michael Jackson or a Shakira. And lo, now we have ASR-based equipment recognizing your voice. Now, you don’t have to move even your fingers. Just give an order to Alexa. She is at your command. ‘Alexa, do this, ‘Alexa, do that’ and Alexa never complains.

inventions relate to the School of Idleness

These inventions relate to the School of Idleness- the sloth of a python. Necessity is seen nowhere, not even behind thousand curtains. Man, you can move, unless you are crippled. Not to move is not your necessity- it’s just a lazy desire to remain static.

Now, the knot was getting loose. So this was Idleness under the control of Necessity for so many centuries, cooperating her in the procreation process against his will and producing the progeny against his ideology. With the dawn of the 20th century, he broke his shackles, now came the real patriarchal flavor, necessity went into oblivion, Idleness has his say in the procreation and he is happy to see his promising offsprings- the inventions promoting his theory- theory of idleness.

Idleness should come in public

And one day entering my house, overhearing the conversation. I thought my unmarried brother is with his love in his bedroom. Well, I’m not a Peeping Tom and I very well know that curiosity killed the cat. But you cannot forgo an idle curiosity. I was more shocked to find him alone than I would have been finding him otherwise, lying cozily on his bed as if for centuries he was in that position and wished to remain so for yet another century, talking to Alexa for a few jobs!

I think it is high time, Idleness should come in public, disclose his identity, claim for the fathership of Invention and thrusting Necessity behind, all of us should say, ‘Idleness is the father of invention.’(written by: SANJAY KUMAR KUNDAN)
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