The need for technical challenges
April 29th, 2009 by Nat JMLast week, I had the idea for a crossword game and I’m now planning to make it. This is certainly a technical challenge I have given myself but I love technical challenges.
While this technical challenge will not lead to a new invention or discovery (many people can already easily program a web crossword game so I’m not doing anything new), the desire to push your own technical abilities is a state of mind, it shows a capacity to invent, a will to better yourself and your life.
Throughout history, we have developped ourselves through inventions. We can now build houses with central heating thanks to several thousands inventors throughout the ages. We can now live longer thanks to thousands of scientists who have pushed the boundaries of knowledge, who have pushed their own technical boundaries and who have come up with cures for diseases again and again.
Overcoming technical challenges has been the one driving factor of the human race, yet we don’t seem to reward our inventors. Many of them struggle to get funding just to develop their ideas and survive, let alone make a decent living. Inventors aren’t celebrities, but somebody who agrees to get stuck in a house and do nothing of value for 3 months is.
While we might not all come up with useful inventions, we can all contribute by challenging ourselves and encouraging others.
If you’re not so good with computers, challenge yourself. If you don’t understand how an engine works, challenge yourself. If you don’t know how solar panels function, challenge yourself. Challenge yourself to learn. Challenge yourself to figure it out. Challenge yourself to understand. And then, challenge yourself to improve the existing techniques and methods in use.
