Is an invention a new idea?

Is an Invention a new Idea?
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Is an Invention a New Idea?
Is an invention a new idea? Is it possible for people to create new ideas? In this paper, I will argue that it is possible for people to create new ideas and that Wile E. Coyote’s invention is new. While an idea is new, only the summation of its parts could be new and not some of its parts. If someone combines different aspects of various things to solve a problem or come up with a new thing, then the new object could be referred to as new in the eyes of the observers or users of the object. Wile E. Coyote’s determination to catch or destroy the road runner leads him to the idea to approach the company ACME to help bring his new invention into a reality. After he had tried numerous ways and destroy the roadrunner, he failed every time. While the different aspects of the idea may not be new, the summation of the various parts can be considered a new idea.
Rationalism is a philosophy that gained popularity in the 17th century proposes that mathematical concepts of deductive reasoning are the basis of decision-making and human actions (Longworth, 2009). The idea is opposed to the idea that only sensory experiences as well as religious teachings that had formed a large part in explaining human behavior in the times before the 17th century, could be relied upon. Descartes, one of the chief proponents of the rationalist theory, would argue that we can create new ideas. In his Cogito argument, he asserts that the things can be determined just by giving them a good thought.

In this instance, he argues that the mind has some innate ability to perform rational analysis of issues and things. Therefore, the power of the mind gives people the power to create new ideas.
Empiricism, on the other hand, is the philosophy that is anchored on senses and religious beliefs. To some extent, it is believed that that the rationalist approach to viewing things was proposed because of the defects of this philosophy or the inability of the philosophy to explain certain issues in this world. Empiricism proponents believe that ideas are not created but are extended from sensory perceptions (Vásquez, 2017). Hume argues that all ideas come from impressions from what people see, or experience. In his missing shade argument, Hume argues that a human that has never seen a colour for over three decades will be able to determine if the color is missing from a set of colors placed before them even though they have never had an opportunity to encounter the color (Brown, 2010). It is possible by rational observation of a bigger difference between the colors closes to the missing color.
In my opinion, it is possible to create new ideas because the mind is not restricted by nature and can wander off to unknown dimensions to come up with ideas that are new. I would also argue that this is possible because a combination of approaches can result in a new concept that is capable of solving problems that had existed and had no solution till then. While the individual ideas may not be new, the new collective idea can be considered new. Secondly, I would argue that all humans do not think, imagine or view situations in the same manner. Therefore, it is more than possible for people to come up with new ideas based on their unique perceptions of issues.
In conclusion, both the rationalists and the proponents of the empiricism schools of thought have convincing arguments on the generation of ideas. While in some situations, each school of thought offers a better explanation, it could be argued that there is some sense in the reasoning in both schools of thought. However, I hold the opinion that it is possible to create new ideas based on the fact that humans are unique creatures with unique abilities and unique perceptions of this world. Therefore, the creation of new ideas should not be any different.
References
Brown, N. (2010). Absent Blue Wax (Rationalist Empiricism). Qui Parle: Critical Humanities and Social Sciences, 19(1), 89-106.
Cunningham, P. (2015). Empirical rationalism and transpersonal empiricism: Bridging the two epistemic cultures of transpersonal psychology. The Journal, 47(1), 83.
Longworth, G. (2009). Rationalism and Empiricism.
Vásquez, M. (2017). The Role of Sensory Experience in Descartes’ Method. In Anales del Seminario de Historia de la Filosofía (Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 611-622). Universidad Complutense de Madrid.