PROBLEM/INVENTION


Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
- John Steinbeck

Spent some time recently at: http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/home/

It’s a web site devoted to collecting (anyone’s) fresh solutions to just about any and all the world’s problems.

Archive contains whole lot of silly, impractical, ill-conceived and inane ideas…and then there are quite a few intriguing ones. Examples below have been edited to help solve the problem of wasted time and energy in reading blogs.

Problem:
Isolation (physical and spiritual) of individuals when faced with a terminal disease and the stresses faced by those who care for them.
Invention:
Combine a maternity unit with a hospice with a shared central sacred space. A sort of arrivals and departures zone.

Problem
Long lines at Restrooms for women
Invention
Female Urinals with hoses.
Four restaurants in the town of Pensacola, Florida, have installed new female urinals. 'The 'She-inal' resembles a urinal for men, but has a hose with form fitted cup attached to it. Women stand in front of the urinal and pull the hose towards them. Saves space, speeds up flow (of traffic).

Problem:
Politicians are out of touch with the real world.
Invention:
Politicians seeking public office should be required by a federal law to teach in a public school for one-month minimum.

Problem:
Valentine’s day is discriminatory.
Invention:
Abolish Valentine's Day and replace it with Happy Friend's Day
.
Problem:
Scarce energy resources
Invention:
Harness the energy generated in gyms by people working out on step trainers, elliptical machines etc.

Problem:
Getting aid quickly to disaster areas
Invention:
Take decommissioned aircraft carriers (there are 17 in USN currently) and have refitted and turned into floating hospitals/clinics/shelters.

Problem
"Fast food is killing off the social value of food.
Invention
Slow Food. Formally founded at a Paris gathering in 1989, the Arcigola Slow Food Movement has become an international rallying point for the inevitable backlash against societal velocity and homogenised, industrial grub and advocating a standard 2 hour lunch break. Members meet for marathon meals and talk food, wine, culture, and philosophy. The non-profit movement now boasts 65,000 members in 45 countries

So spent accumulated downtime today trying to conjure up some ideas of my own. None strike me yet as worthy of serious consideration, but what’s a blog for if not to be used as a repository for all things unworthy of serious consideration?

Problem
Middle-East Conflict
Invention
Multi-religion, multi-purpose houses of worship. Separate spaces for services but all bathrooms, social spaces, lobbies etc are communal. Jews and Palestinians will be forced to mingle or risk the wrath of (their) god.

Problem
Gun-related Violence
Invention
Make all bullets very very very expensive
(like razorblades for razors)

Problem
Urban Highway Congestion
Invention
Require all cars entering Urban centers to have at least one colicky baby or one St. Bernard with weak bladder in rear passenger seat.

Problem
High prices from Cable TV and Internet service providers.
Invention
Boycott.

Problem
Illegal Drugs
Invention
Legal Drugs.

Problem
Music videos and music competitions
Invention
Music

Problem
Airport security procedures.
Invention
Catch the bad guys before they get to the airport.

Problem
Wall St. Greed
Invention
Don’t give them your investment dollars

Problem
Clogged drains.
Invention
Shorter hair

Problem
Lawn weeds.
Invention
Don’t understand the problem

Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.
- Howard Aiken