Why Are Some Folks So Darned Creative?

Steve Jobs died one year ago. The value of his life and the effects of his ideas will remain with us for decades.  Steve Jobs was one of the most creative guys who ever lived. But he is not the only techno-creator of our lifetime.

I thought it might be encouraging for us to remember just how creative we human beings can be. Lately, I have been focusing much on some of the more dismal aspects of our humanity (like violence, murder, and persecution). Let’s take a day to be more positive and remember just how creative people can be.

Herald Haas, a German physicist, had a proverbial “light bulb” go off in his head. He literally imagined a light bulb functioning like a wi-fi router. Now, he is leading a team of researchers at the University of Edinburgh to harness the power of light bulbs to serve as wi-fi transmitters. If his technology is perfected, then consumers will be able to access wi-fi pretty much anywhere there is a light. This new technology is being dubbed “Li-fi.”

In the auto industry, safety innovation has been at the top of the priority list since at least 1965 when Ralph Nader published his critical book Unsafe at Any Speed.  From side airbag restraints to rearview cameras, auto makers have pursued relentlessly the next improvement to offer consumers. The next innovation may be here. Scientists from Japan have equipped a Toyota Prius with a “see-through” back end.

They have configured video cameras to picture everything that is behind the car, and, through amazing technology, they are able to project the view to the driver. In other words, when the driver looks back, he doesn’t see the back seat; he sees everything behind him as though there were no back seats in the way. This “behind-the-car” view is available only to the driver. No one else sees “through” the back seats. Obviously, there are many safety advantages to such an innovation.

I share these innovations because they speak of the indefatigable creativity of human beings created in the image of God. As God Himself delights to shout forth glory from the things He has created (Psalm 19), so, too, do human beings delight to put forth our best efforts for the glory of creativity.

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