So an idea is- unless you work at the telescope museum and are curating exhibits or something- maybe just let it go? AT LEAST five different people “invented the light bulb.” So…. Realize that unless we we are speaking of a specific and exact thing in context- and even then often- who invented something can be debated and there Can actually be more than one person.

“This is my baby, me, and her dad.”
“Mmmm…. Are you SURE that’s her dad because…”
Well- maybe the kid doesn’t look like her father or maybe- you’ve figured out is is genetically impossible for that child to come from that parent. Or maybe you have knowledge or evidence of infidelity around the tule of conception etc.
And? Do you REALLY think that is the thing to say? At work? Or even the thing to say at all, especially in public, especially if you don’t know a person VERY well and aren’t VERY close? And even then- siblings and best friends and close relationships have historically had strain or friction when someone a questions paternity. Especially based on a babies looks or such.

You’ve been able to lose your job for being socially inept for all of human history.
“This is my adorable baby…”
“That baby is ugly.”
Try it.
What did you do wrong? At best they gave an opinion and you gave yours- that’s fair no?
At worst they stated a fact that was not fact- 99% of people might agree or you can mathematically quantify the baby is ugly. And what? Asides shitting on them, what have you accomplished? Probably made a new enemy and maybe many. Probably not be thought of as a good person, maybe even get fired.

In all this “woke” “free speech” “cancel culture” mess of crap y’all seem to just forget civility and manners. Like- crazy idea- if someone tells you Oprah invented the lightbulb, nod and say: “that is information I hadn’t heard before. Thank you.” Because…
None of that is a lie. It’s news to you. Maybe not what you believe or know, but you didn’t lie. It’s civil and doesn’t embrace their facts but doesn’t reject them. And guess what…?

So why? Do you know who invented the telescope? Every single one? We’re you there?

Why would you Google it? Why would you argue it? Are you the great great Great onwards descendent of some supposed telescope inventor and you can’t rest if your family name is defended? Your name… that you share with someone who did something supposedly. Not you. So let the dead telescope guy complain if they have an issue.
But really- why? That’s like someone saying that their car is reliable and they love it and you pull up consumer reports to show it had a terrible score. For what purpose? It’s reliable to them and they love it, but what do you get out of it and what does it help them? Are they going to sell a car that they love and doesn’t give them problems because a bunch of strangers had problems? Maybe but probably not. I doubt most people sell new cars and take a bath to avoid possible problems when everything is great for them.

And here is the real kick in the ass…ignoring that there are many types of telescopes invented by many people over human history-
Most people don’t know who “invented the telescope.” You’d have to Google it more than likely to even know one persons name possibly credited as a telescope inventor. And what? You gonna call the listed inventor to pick their brain or you need to know who to write a thank you note for or send royalty checks for you home made telescope business to? They’re dead. Almost every single person credited with inventing any type of telescope is dead. A few exceptions, and MAYBE those people are relevant when you have some telescope related issue. Other than that- who cares?

Often times when we talk about “inventions” we are wrong, often times without knowing or suspecting or having direct reason to.
Often times when we speak of “inventions” we have to remember the above- and most importantly- who cares? What difference does it make who invented what? If you’ve never had a Shirley temple or don’t know what that is and you decide to mix ginger ale, grenadine, and a cherry because you have those things or it seems like it would go well- didn’t YOU just invent the Shirley Temple drink? You didn’t use someone else’s recipe and came up with it all alone. The fact it already exists doesn’t mean much. Diamonds exist, so the people who created lab diamonds are just a bunch of losers who didn’t invent anything? Of course not.

Invention is usually a chain- taking things other people discovered and finding used for them or using existing technologies in novel ways. Often they are a process involving many people working directly together or sharing information or working against each other but taking from the others work.
And more than that- we know as a fact that many things that were credited to more modern (to their time and place) inventors were often invented long before, often lost or forgotten for various reasons, and we have evidence to suggest many other inventions existed in another time to often unknown inventors but someone more contemporary is credited. Things get lost or forgotten and rediscovered. Names and tiles get lost, yadda yadda.
So….

In the end- it usually doesn’t matter. Why would it? Often times two or more “inventors” come out with the same idea at the same time or so close that in their own time or later in history it can be a debate or toss up who invented it. That shows you that generally, if XYZ inventor never existed that by and large someone else would have just done it. Arguably evidence often suggests things might have advanced MORE or gone “better” if certain people weren’t credited as inventing some things or had not been the one to release it under the circumstances.

That a good idea usually made via observation Can be made by someone else?
Ever see an ad or a preview or hear a song or see a new trend or fashion or something and think “I had that idea first!” It’s very probable. You might even be the first. The likelihood of being the first human to have any idea tends to be mathematically slim, but perhaps the first of your time. But… did you invent it? Tricky no? We often say invent or “discovered” or “theorized” for ideas- Newton “discovered gravity..” but…. How do you originate an idea? No one ever in history had a similar idea? Of course not. Part of the process is acting- writing, sharing, spreading, building etc. but….
The entire concept of “invention” is flawed.

So did Philo Farnsworth invent the 72” OLED? No. In fact few kids born in the last 10 years in many countries are likely to have seen a TV like what he invented, kids born today on average probably won’t see one at all unless in some historical context.
It gets MUCH more difficult when we start talking about simpler inventions. Humans around the globe have used optical devices at least for a thousand years- more than that even. Many inventions also happen to be somewhat concurrent. It isn’t hard to imagine- it happens in the modern age but before light speed global telecom and media saturation it was more common that things could happen without you knowing about them for months, years, decades, ever. So someone invents a chair maybe 10-40 thousand years ago- you don’t think anyone else in the world could independently come up with a chair?

We usually credit someone as the inventor. Sometimes it is the first person to do it, sometimes it is the first person we are aware did it. Sometimes it is the person who’s invention became most prolific and sometimes it’s who we like most or has the best PR. Sometimes it’s none of those. Many problems though. In most cases there are earlier versions of the implementation of a concept. In how they work, a tube television and a modern OLED television have very little in common- they are almost entirely different devices despite looking somewhat related and both using a screen and some electronics to turn coded signals into images and sounds to project into an environment. .

There is a lesson in here about being kinder to others. How you felt or feel when you come out about your feelings and are dismissed Can be equated to how it might make others feel. You probably do have things pretty well. Almost anyone able to read this has things pretty well over all restively both in the modern world as well as in context to all humans across recorded history. You can still have negative emotions and become sad or depressed. It is nice if people can be more sensitive to our feelings but we can’t make them, what we can do is make it a point to be more sensitive and understanding of others.

Depression- clinical depression- is something different and has nothing to do with circumstances or anything else inherently. External factors can trigger or worsen or help cope through clinical depression but it is an internal chemistry issue.
It can strike anyone at any time and can’t simply and universally be “willed away” or “got over.” It’s an illness and depending on the individual and severity and other factors, like any other illness, can require profesional help, medication, lifestyle changes and other treatments, support, and time and may be chronic, have remissions and flares, or be temporary.

Rich and famous people self destruct or kill themselves over emotional issues all the time.
You’re human. So wether it is extinct animal socks or your closest loved one dying or being rejected by a crush or whatever- hurt is hurt.
We all feel it. Some of us can hide it better or function through more or let it go faster depending on the type of hurt but we all can be hurt.

will see our problems as serious and valid regardless of other peoples, and see other peoples as less valid in light of our own.
That said- of course you can be upset or disappointed or depressed regardless of how rich or well off or loved or successful or fulfilled etc. you are.

Now, realize this- almost every single person in America- yes. Even the “poor ones” lives within the top 1% of the global population for wealth and standard of living. Just by existing in a developed country you are more affluent than like 6 billion people.
Less than 20% of the global population will ever take a plane flight. If you’ve flown more than once in your life you have exponentially beat out most of the humans on earth.
In a developed nation, your shitty life, no matter how shitty, most likely places you in a position where no less than 5 billion people do not have have you have. Where billions would gladly trade for what you have or even sacrifice or risk everything for a piece of it.
So in that sense- things that upset us often are childish and entitled. In that sense, if you were being cognizant of what you have and your position you’d likely tell someone else who was the 1% relative to you- “shut up.”
So there is a strong hypocrisy there in that we generally

Probably not. You might even laugh and mock. Because… of course. They are being a brat. It isn’t really a big deal in the grand picture is it? It isn’t life or death, they have things so good and you and billions of others would gladly trade them circumstances in a heart bear wouldn’t you?

If that was your first time dealing with that sort of grief, this is their first time dealing with that sort of grief. Perhaps any grief at all.
So… how sorry would you feel for some rich person who didn’t get their way on some unreasonably extravagant or superficial thing? Does your heart bleed? Do you say a prayer every night that some Beverly Hills Debutant gets Drake for her sweet 16 and gets the dress she wants from Paris in time for the party and Becky Klinsman doesn’t have a nicer dress?

I’m not hating. Like I said- just because the inventor intended it one way doesn’t mean we have to use it that way.
I’ve been known to sit backwards on a chair or two, I will shamelessly use a screw driver as a punch or mini pry bar, I have used my shower rod to hang clothes or towels. I’ve filled a pot with water and placed another pot on top as a make shift double boiler in a pinch. People make grilled cheese sandwiches with clothes irons and use old phones as universal remotes or brains for various home brew. Mason jar cups and using plumbing pipes for shelving.
The examples are endless from old industrial cable spools as tables to using a countertop cleaner in the tub. Almost ever “raced out” Honda you’ve ever seen was not designed by Honda for that.
And that’s ok. I’m not Apple. I’m not Elon Musk. I think people should more or less be able to do what they want with their stuff as works for them.