Segway Inventor: Fear of Failure Kills U.S. Innovation

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Reading material like this gets me so excited. Those leading the STEM agenda in government are so often distanced from the educational experience first hand, and that's where visionaries like Dean are so vital. In FIRST Robots he his illuminating the possible and showing what education could be! For those readers who are interested, we're on a similar trajectory here in the UK, aiming to create the science and technology entrepreneurs of tomorrow - www.stemfutures.com.
Will Roberts, STEMFUTURES.com

Will Roberts of 3:57AM November 22, 2011

Dean Kamen should be the head of the Dept. of Education, or planning industrial policy for America.
His message is exactly what we need. Unfortunately, not enough people are heeding his call.
The scandal at Penn State clearly shows what he is saying is true. Because football has such unwarranted importance, a pedophile scandal was swept aside to protect the football franchise. How absurd.

Paul Shindler of NH 1:51PM November 14, 2011

I'm a participant on a FIRST team, and I can honestly say that it's an incredible experience. I learn more in the six weeks of the build season than I do during the entire school year. I'm not doing FIRST and learning all sorts of stuff because I'll fail a class if I don't I'm doing it because I love doing it. I think that if more kids were exposed to stuff like this, where they can learn and do what they love at the same time, that we would have much higher numbers of people graduating in the math/science/engineering fields. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do with my life before I joined FIRST, but now I know what I love, and I have the skills needed to pursue it.

Justin of GA 2:14PM November 08, 2011

On target. First is a marvelous organization. I have two grandchildren who were active in First and who are now both in scientific fields. Each of them married fellow First participants

NORMAN D NASSON of MI 9:29AM November 05, 2011

What Dean Kamen says about failure being a good/learning process reminds me of what another smart thinking guy said. Richard Feynman suggest that in the scientific world one would set up theories, test and prove them only to later have some new insight maybe much later on that required adjustment. Some would say that the theory 'failed'. He would say "No, we have LEARNED from that and moved on with new ideas, become smarter". Embrace doubt and failure. Learn. FIRST seems like a great way for kids and adults to push themselves up beyond any failure steps.

Brogan of WA 2:50AM November 04, 2011

I am a youth (well by my standards, really I'm 25) and I enjoy playing PC and Nintendo games. I also repair fridges for neighbors and friends, just replaced a defrost timer yesterday to be honest. I also do all my own car repair. Some of the youth today do just fine while still enjoying things like gaming that you decry. Some, as has always been the case, are just not able to do the kind of things we enjoy. I don't think they've really changed very much, or their hobbies are any more consuming than hobbies ever have been.

McDuderson of MN 11:53AM November 03, 2011

Yesterday I replaced an evaporator fan motor and mount in a refrigerator with a used motor from a bathroom fan on homemade mount built from dead-soft 1/8" aluminum from screen door trim. The newlyweds who own the refrigerator could not afford a new motor. The husband works with computers. He has no experience with mechanical equipment. Instead, he played computer games on a Nintendo, Play Station, and a PC. None of these games prepared him to fix real-life equipment, nor does he understand how it works.
I think he's typical of much of the younger generation today. Maybe that's why we don't have the inventors of yesteryear. It isn't just basketball -- it's HALO.
FYI, I have a liberal arts degree, but I can still fix a refrigerator. I'm not an engineer, but today I did a field repair on a truck door latch. Why can't the kids do this?

Mr. Brown of TX 2:27AM November 03, 2011

Dean Kamen can teach us a lot about how to make a better world. He has done that all by himself again and again. Now if only politicians will take him seriously...

Steve of NH 10:15PM November 02, 2011

From San Luis, Argentina our kids are trying to work with this vision that Dean Kamen expresses wo well in this interview.

Daniel Rivas 4:34PM November 02, 2011

We have already lost 2 generations to poor education, so now we have the situation that most teachers are neither competent nor motivated to excel in technology based subjects. It really takes well-skilled and eager teachers to make a difference in kid's lives, and that is what defines the future.

AgentG of TX 2:53PM November 02, 2011