SWENSDAY STUFF

What If?
Swen Nater

Thomas Edison was determined to make a light bulb that would last. After numerous attempts with little success, he asked himself, ‘What if I took the air out of the bulb?’ On October 22, 1879, Thomas Edison patented his electric light bulb which had a carbon filament that lasted 40 hours. But he wasn’t through.

Just a few months later, while fishing with his bamboo pole, Edison noticed a splinter and pulled it off. He asked himself, ‘What if I carbonized it?’ He went back to his lab, made a carbonized bamboo filament, and it lasted for 1,200 hours.

The great inventors of history all have one thing in common. They first asked, ‘What if?’

Alexander Graham Bell asked, ‘What if it was possible for two people to hear each other through a wire?’ On March 7, 1876, he patented the telephone. Martin Cooper, of Motorola went one step further. He asked, ‘What if we didn’t need wires at all?’ In April of 1973, he patented the first cellular phone.

What causes a person like Edison, Bell, or Cooper to ask, “What if?” I say, it is curiosity. But what causes curiosity? Are we born with it? You bet your life we are. My grandson is as curious as they come. He can’t say, “What if,” but he is demonstrating it every day, all day. “What if I push that? What if I throw that? What if I move my legs? Will I move forward?” Soon he will ask, “What if I put my finger in that outlet?” (Don’t worry; my daughter is ready for that.) We are born curious and we are born asking, “What if?”

Then why do some continue that into adulthood while others stop? I don’t know the full answer to that, but I do know, parents and teachers have a lot to say about it. I contend, teachers who create an atmosphere of experimentation for students by demonstrating and encouraging curiosity and innovation, will see them take full advantage of the situation and often, they will see students experiencing discovery in progress. 

Basketball practice, under Coach Wooden’s leadership, was one-half hour of fundamentals and two hours of controlled experimentation. For example, when the full-court press was fully implemented in 1963 with the strong encouragement of assistant coach, Jerry Norman, the basic structure, purpose, and movements were implemented. But once they were, the coaching staff allowed the players to break from the structure if they saw opportunities. The result was a press that was unpredictable, even to the coaching staff. Coach Wooden said he wanted to be surprised by what happened out on the floor, and he was.

Bill Walton was known as a “free spirit.” Although that drove Coach crazy at times, it came in handy during practice. Bill was so inventive, he actually added options to the offense Coach never thought of. This all happened because Pauley Pavilion was a Basketball Laboratory. Of course, Coach had to tone Bill down a bit at times but, for the most part, he allowed Bill to be a Thomas Edison out there.

Children are born like Edison, Bell, and Cooper, asking, “What if?” Let’s not screw it up.

“Restlessness is discontent – and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man – and I will show you a failure.”
Thomas Edison