In her book Inventology, Pagan Kennedy attempts to uncover the ways in which people invent things. Her hope is to create a guide that galvanizes future inventions. Inventology is the latest in the stream of psychology-esque books sparked by Malcolm Gladwell's writing. Gladwell has found success in making sense of the chaotic, linking together seemingly unrelated events with overarching themes. His successors have all attempted this, to varying to degrees of success. Kennedy takes a slightly different approach: she argues that there are various components, all equally important, that may lead to invention. However, this argument hinders her ultimate purpose of creating a guide for modern inventors. The various segments (e.g. "Problem Finding" and "Discovery") result in a sense of disjointedness and dissatisfaction.
Perhaps this is not so much Kennedy's fault, as it is the simple nature of invention. It is undeniable that sometimes serendipity leads to beautiful invention, and sometimes it is methodical data-mining that leads to the same beautiful invention. Nevertheless, it is somewhat dissatisfying for readers to constantly switch from one mindset to another. In one chapter, Kennedy emphasizes how inventions just arrive at certain people's feet. In another chapter, Kennedy discusses individuals' careful search for the Next Big Thing. Kennedy is not being disingenuous, but readers are forced to jump from one concept to another with no satisfying conclusions. It is like listening to an orchestra crescendo to nothing over and over again.
While I personally do not disagree with Kennedy's argument, the presentation leaves readers wanting. Perhaps if Kennedy were able to find connections between the various components of inventology, rather than completely segregating them, it would be more enjoyable to readers.
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