I really do not get it. For some reason or another watching movies - any movies - seems to have strangely profound effect on me. However it only seems to work when I can unequivocally focus on the movie. If someone nearby is eating and getting crumbs on the floor, or is talking, the depth of thought inside of me just doesn't occur.

At any rate, I just saw Star Wars : Revenge of the Sith (not a bad movie by the way) and this terrific thought process kicked in. Enraptured in the film, I examined the problem being faced by the Republic and the Jedi. As a supporter of the ideology of democracy I felt slightly unhappy when, albeit fictional, a progressively less democratic republic crossed the line and turned into an authoritarian state. Then I considered how I might have approached the situation and create a solution to the problem.

Then it hit me.

Inside each and every person there are solutions to the most pressing problems posed to people. If everyone actually applied themselves to some sort of serious task, then every problem on the face of the earth could be solved. Amazing things could happen if everyone just innovated ! But there is no question that innovation is happening at far too slow of a pace. It is not being properly stimulated by all of the possible stimuli.

Look at stem cells. A potentially HUGE innovation. But we are caught up in this faux-moral debate created by people who are blindly following an institution which simply wants to maintain its power. Look what happened when America really innovated. When John F. Kennedy stood up and said, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard," it put the cogs of innovation into motion. Not only did we do the incredible and eventually send a man to the moon, but we inspired a generation of people to innovate.

The space program also brought about lots of things which have improved the quality of life everywhere. The satellites which came about can now be used to do everything from track tsunamis to provide satellite images over driving directions to link formerly isolated people together into a global network. Other things, like the microwave oven (originally used to dry spacesuits) and various synthetics (teflon comes to mind) changed life everywhere.

If innovation happened at its fullest then every problem on earth could be solved. From finite supplies to oil to the common cold. However, one real barrier to this is innovation are overly bureaucratic governments. I am, though, in no way, advocating (coming back to Star Wars) for a totalitarian or anarchist government. Government plays a key role in innovation and must be in place. Take a look at countries which have a totalitarian state. The Soviet Union was run by a totalitarian state, but, as it turns out, they innovated far less than the United States. Government is definitely a help, not a hindrance, to innovation.

I'm having trouble putting the rest of my thoughts into words. Perhaps I'll post something else a little later on.

Ahhh ! I wish I had some kind of device to record all of my thoughts. They are just pouting into my mind. It would also be nice if I could keep my mind in this thought-churning semi-euphoric state. My head hurts.