When was the last time we had a new "wheel"? It seems we have settled for mediocrity, for comfort. Where have all the giant leaps of discovery and exploration gone? From the late 1800's to the first half of the 1900's was when I believe some of the greatest ideas were made into reality; electricity, motion picture, music reproduction, radio. Most things we have now are "hi-tech" adaptations of those first things. I'm not saying adaptations don't deserve their credit or are not innovative, but where are those flashes of lightning that change the course of history? I'm not only talking about technology, but also of art, medicine, education, science, ethics, etc. We as citizens of this planet have become lazy, we have become fearful, we stopped caring. We have become self-centered and reliant on the few that still seek to create and give the world something new. I suppose we need to change the way we see things, in order to see new things.
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust
I think the biggest thing that we're missing are role models. Besides Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela, I can not think of anyone from the past half century who truly inspired. In the area of medicine we have seen tremendous advances continuously, so I have to disagree, but I do agree that there has been no "flash of genious" in the other areas that you mentioned.
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