This is a very important point, and yet it is sometimes surprising that so many people miss it, though to other it is self apparent. Science fairs are the opportunity for our children, and depending on the fair, at times those in our public who are not scientists, to come up with new ideas, spawn new thoughts, and prove that some things that may have been deemed as workable, will indeed work.
How many people have stopped to consider how many inventions of great impact came from non-technical people? Great strides forward have been continually made by this sort of person. For instance, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, both engineers and not scientists, came very close to proving the Big Bang theory from their work in figuring out what was causing background radiation. They shared the Nobel Peace prize for this work, though they didn’t have any idea about its import at the time. These were NOT scientists, and this is but one of many examples of how average people contributed to the knowledge and good for everyone.
Further, how do we encourage those people to perform and create? A science fair is a great way to do it. Recognitions go a long way to spurring a person to go further. Each of us is unique. That one feature is a powerful commodity. None of us will look at the same problem in the same way. Since this is true, any encouragement at all, and any exposure, is something that will help us all.
The governments benefit by coming up with new ideas, new innovations, and ultimately, by having the next generation of thinkers that will impact that government. This really isn’t hard to figure out. Money spent now is worth many times that in the future. This has been proven over and over. But it is only going to be when governments fully understand this, and some are, that the advantages will come to fruition.
