[adrianN]

You should try a bicycle.

If you want actual wings, that's just one of those problems that need absurd amounts of money and brains to figure out. Genetic engineering is certainly a lot more difficult than inventing Nitrocellulose.

[bambax]

I'm aware of the existence of bicycles. They are not as useful -- or fun -- as the ability to fly would be.

I don't understand your point at all. When something sounds far-fetched / difficult / expensive it means it's actually more interesting rather than less.

[adrianN]

My point is that this thread started with the assertion that all easy inventions are already gone and it takes a lot of effort to invent something novel. You countered with flying via genetic engineering, which to me doesn't sound like something reasonably simple that hasn't been invented yet.

[bambax]

Oh, ok. I was concurring with the comment that said "There are plenty of inventions yet to make" and not really voicing an opinion about their difficulty.

However, after rereading it, I disagree with the top comment that said that "Centuries ago, it was easier to think of things to invent".

It's never easy to think of something to invent. Finding the problem, even just thinking there might be a problem where noone sees any, is a big part of any invention.

Also, in the past, inventions required a much larger leap of thinking than today. When we speak today about growing wings on creatures born without it, we kind of accept the idea, because we know it's already possible to grow eyes on flies' legs for example.

But inventing the steam engine, or disproving "spontaneous generation" and inventing vaccines, sound to me much more impressive because those people went where no one had dared go before them.

[HeyLaughingBoy]

But the thread's based on an invalid assumption. I posit that inventions were never "easy." They just seem that way in retrospect, from the outside.

[quadrangle]

Easy is relative. So is "invention". I invent things most days of my life, but they aren't that novel.

People are crazy inventive and always have been. But today, it is far easier than it ever was before to learn about the best inventions others already figured out instead of reinventing the wheel.