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Problem Solving | Idea Generation | Training and Education | News and Information
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Any artist, inventor, or innovator who wants to break new ground should never hesitate to question authority. The great ones never have. A willingness to challenge authority opens the door to new possibilities. The rest of the way to great breakthroughs is all about hard work, but you can’t even start down the road to new ideas without the willingness to challenge the status quo, to question what most of the world takes as gospel. This is not a call to rebellion but a call to common sense. It makes sense to challenge authority, because authorities are so often wrong. And if they happen to be right, they’re usually way behind. Forever catching up on yesterday’s new ideas, they have no choice but to resist today’s. Which is why inventors, innovators, artists, and all creative thinkers are always challenging authority. And not just to be obnoxious.
I remember, back in the 90s, reading an ad for a computer program that claimed to have “true WYSIWYG capability.“ I had no idea what WYSIWYG meant. Neither did my dictionary. No matter how up-to-date your dictionary was back then, I wouldn’t have found WYSIWYG. What if you want to spell or define dejab or nard today? Skip your dictionary. Try Word Spy. Of course, if you’re still not sure about the word cow, you’re in luck. It’s still there. You might even find cash cow now, a term that strayed into the language a long time ago. That’s only slightly faster than calling the public library. Not only is the traditional dictionary all but dead, Google Dictionary has shut down and given way to Google Search. The former has become redundant. The verb to google has taken over what we used to mean by “looking it up.” Even though it’s hardly news, the good words are Wiktionary, Forvo, and the Urban Dictionary. Language users keeping track of the language they use. What a concept! See also:
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Take one of our most common authorities, the dictionary. Open it to any page. I’ll bet you’re familiar with more than half the words on that or any page. What good is a book that tells you, for the most part, what you already know? Especially if it does not contain words you need to know?