The biggest secret about invention is that anybody can do it! Perhaps this sounds crazy, but it's true. Maybe you have the wrong idea about invention, so read on to discover the truth.
Wrong idea 1: An invention has to be something completely new.
Invention means creating something "new", but the idea could come from something that already exists (存在) . The Wright brothers, for example, got the idea of building a "flying machine" from watching birds.
Wrong idea 2: Inventors are born, not made.
There are a lot of factors (因素) that make invention possible. Take Mozart for example. He was born with a talent for musical composition. But other factors were also important for his creativity. His father was a music teacher, and Mozart practiced for hours every day, from the time he was four years old. Thomas Edison said that being an inventor was "99% hard work and 1% inspiration"!
Very successful creators don't give up when they get something wrong. As one inventor said, "A failure is the right answer to the wrong question."
Wrong idea 3: Inventors are always old people.
Don't believe that you can't invent anything when you are young. Here are two examples of young inventors: Louis Braille went blind when he was a child. When he was fifteen, he invented a system of reading and writing for blind people that is still used in most countries today.
As a young man, George Nissen was watching some artists performing in a show. He watched how they fell into the safety net and then jumped back up again. This gave him an idea, and he invented the trampoline (蹦床).
