Innovation Stagnation

Many view our technological advances over the past 50 years as amazing and even stunning. Most of the technological advances have come about because of the digital revolution. Communication devices as well as media gadgets are smaller, more efficient, more accurate, and more precise than ever before. The reason for this is because many of our everyday electronic gadgets are no longer analog, they are digital. Another reason is the advancement of the transistor, which is used to make the integrated circuit. Advancements in semiconductor science have lead to smaller and more efficient transistors and therefore, more efficient integrated circuits. Integrated circuits are then used to build smaller and more efficient electronic products such as the IPod. Cell phones, computers, TVs, cameras, and the cars we drive are all excellent examples of the advancements in both digital technology and the transistor.

These advancements in communication, travel, and media items are certainly innovative. However, a few people like myself, would argue that present day innovation is not nearly as advanced as the innovative progress that was achieved over a hundred years ago. Thus, technologically speaking, the United States and the world are suffering through innovation stagnation. Most people would disagree with this point, but what was the more important invention: the phone or the cell phone? The phone off course, without the phone the cell phone or any of its derivatives, such as the IPod, would not have been possible. What about the invention of the car? Present day cars may be safer and have many more electronic gadgets, but without the invention of the car none of this would have been possible. The same can be said for trains and airplanes. Thus, present day innovation is merely an improvement over older and more innovative inventions. Face it; there have really been no new innovative inventions over the past 50 years with the exception of the space program and possibly in the field of medicine. However, although we have better technology in the medical field, such as imaging devices (which are a derivation of the camera), medical scientists, surgeons, and doctors are not anywhere nearer to curing cancer and other deadly diseases. Some still argue that the century old invention of penicillin is still the greatest advancement in medicine because it paved the way for the pharmaceutical industry.

What are the reasons for innovation stagnation? First, it is much easier to identify issues with current inventions and to improve upon them. This is certainly innovative, but improving current inventions is not necessarily introducing “ground breaking” innovative ideas. Secondly, the concept of failure is prohibiting innovation. Improving upon inventions is safer and therefore, failure is less likely to occur. However, those that invented the plane or the phone did not have advanced technology to aide them with their experiments, so they had to go through many failure cycles before becoming successful. Today, people do not have as much patients for failure. This is unfortunate since people can learn more from failures than from successes. The truth is that failure has become a stigma and in many ways is viewed as taboo in modern times. Think about it. Every time something goes wrong and there is a failure, individuals want to relive these failures not only to find solutions, but to blame and ridicule those that made the error. Remember, in today’s polarized world scientists, politicians, doctors, and individuals take sides on issues, such as climate change, and use most of their energies and resources to highlight the errors and failures of their adversaries than to work to together to find solutions. Thus, people are afraid to take chances and to fail because they do not want be ridiculed for their mistakes. Finally, and most importantly, innovation is nearly impossible in the United States due to government interference. High taxes, mandates, regulation, and unions are a few reasons why it is cost prohibitive for small business to be innovative by taking risks. The United States may be the most unfriendly nation in the world to own and run a business. After all, there is less money for research and development after the government collects all its taxes and fees, which incidentally are the highest in the world.