~e; Tesla on inventive thinking

[human being <human@electronetwork.org>]

Fwd: NewsScan Daily, 22 January 2004 ("Above The Fold")

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WORTH THINKING ABOUT: THE INVENTIVE MIND
     In this autobiographical sketch, the famous inventor Nikola Tesla
explained the way his mind works:
      "The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on 
invention.
It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate 
purpose
is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing 
of
the forces of nature to human needs. This is the difficult task of the
inventor who is often misunderstood and unrewarded. But he finds ample
compensation in the pleasing exercises of his powers and in the 
knowledge of
being one of that exceptionally privileged class without whom the race 
would
have long ago perished in the bitter struggle against pitiless elements.
      "Speaking for myself, I have already had more than my full measure 
of
this exquisite enjoyment, so much that for many years my life was little
short of continuous rapture. I am credited with being one of the hardest
workers and perhaps I am, if thought is the equivalent of labor4, for I 
have
devoted to it almost all of my waking hours. But if work is interpreted 
to
be a definite performance in a specified time according to a definite
performance in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then I may be
worst of idlers. Every effort under compulsion demands a sacrifice of 
life
-- energy. I never paid such a price. On the contrary, I have thrived 
on my
thoughts.
      "I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once
building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make
improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely 
immaterial
to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. There 
is
scarcely a subject that cannot be mathematically treated and the effects
calculated or the results determined beforehand from the available
theoretical and practical data.  The carrying out into practice of a 
crude
idea as is being generally done is, I hold, nothing but a waste of 
energy,
money and time."

See Nikola Tesla, "My Inventions," Barnes and Noble Books -- or look 
for it
in your favorite library.

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