Hello All:
I just posted a video on my Facebook page about Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu - one of the greatest inventors of all times - having 3,032 inventions and still going at the age of 87 - he started inventing at age 5 -so that means he's been inventing of 82 years!!!
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| Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu - Inventor par excellence - Just where do you think the idea for the iWatch came from? |
Somewhere around 1989 I came across his book, "What a Great Idea!!" which taught how to use your imagination and creativity to invent or transform whatever you turned your mind to. It was fascinating!! I was so pumped by it, I taught my kids and any other kids who came into my environment that there was no such thing as a stupid idea - that they had the capacity to transform their environment or use their minds to invent new things. I had kind of always believed it, but his book had methodologies and examples - he was great.
Now, mind you, there are some things he does, that I most like won't be trying - like the underwater concept - but it may work well for others.
The reason I'm posting this interview with NakaMats here is because we, as a Black people, need to begin moving beyond this ersatz educational system they currently foist on our kids here - and begin to learn as others more advanced than we are, learn. And that's the Japanese -the US's biggest competitor in technological, ideological, and medical/healing developments. We can no longer afford to allow our children to be MIS-EDUCATED by whites - who themselves are behind the rest of the world in education and development.
African and Japan need to link up - Japan has a great many of the inventions - as do our brothers and sisters in Africa, but Africa has the raw materials that Japan lacks - put them together and you have a wonderful symbiotic relationship - not the parasitical one that is currently happening under the Chinese, Americans and nu-euros.
On Facebook,we've seen time after time young African children coming up with inventions and concepts to improve their environment - these inventions are not being honored or expanded - they would be with the right relationships with such great inventors as NakaMats -- and simultaneously, those nascent African geniuses could also be learning the methodology that needs to be replicated in Africa to cultivate even more geniuses.
Add to that W. Edward Demings methodology of quality control, that made Japanese products so great, bring that to Africa and to African American development and creativity, and we've got the formula for broad based, widespread success.
So this is the interview below:
What
a great idea!!
An
Interview with Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats
By Chic (?)
Dr.
Yoshiro NakaMats holds the record for inventions, according to the
Guinness Book of World Records, with over 3,200 to his credit—three
times that of his closest rival, Thomas Edison. Dr. NakaMats’s
inventions include the floppy disk, the CD, the DVD, the digital
watch, Cinemascope, and the taxicab meter.
All
of these accomplishments inspired me to consider interviewing Dr.
NakaMats. However, when I realized that he came up with almost all
these brainstorms while swimming underwater, I knew I had to
personally meet this man and share our creative secrets.
The
NakaMats method of invention involves diving underwater without an
oxygen tank or snorkel and staying below the surface for as long as
possible until an idea bubbles up. Upon resurfacing, he then writes
down the idea on a dripping-wet Plexiglas tablet. When asked if all
that underwater breathing was dangerous to his health, he said yes,
but that dying was not part of his research.
NakaMats,
doesn’t mind being called eccentric. He is a graduate of the
University of Tokyo and completed a doctorate program in engineering.
Now seventy-eight years old, NakaMats refers to himself as a
middle-aged man, thanks to his theory of longevity, which emphasizes
equal attention to five basic elements: spirituality, food and drink,
muscle training, sleep, and sex. His most creative time is between
midnight and 4 a.m., and then he gets four hours’ sleep.
NakaMats
believes that if you sleep more than six hours in any
twenty-four-hour period, your brainpower decreases. He eats only one
meal a day—at dinner—with a maximum of seven hundred calories. He
also photographs every dish he eats to recall the stimulating ones.
NakaMats
doesn’t drink or smoke, and does daily weight lifting and swimming.
He is a big advocate of the twenty-minute power nap in the special
Cerebrex chair that he, of course, invented.
He
has appeared on American TV shows, such as Lifestyles of the Rich and
Famous and Late Night with David Letterman, and has been given the
distinctly American honor of throwing out the first pitch at a major
league baseball game (in Pittsburgh).
NakaMats’s
inventive career started at five years old, when he came up with the
idea for a landing stabilizer for his model airplane. A few years
later he saw his mother struggling to pour kerosene out of a big
container, so he devised an automatic pump. His mother was a
schoolteacher and encouraged her son to build models of his
inventions and then helped him apply for patents.
His
biggest success came in 1950 when, as a student at the University of
Tokyo, he manufactured the floppy disk. After six of Japan’s
leading corporations turned down his request to have them produce the
floppy disk, he granted the sales license for the disk to IBM, which
now holds the patents for sixteen of his inventions.
While
studying or working on his inventions NakaMats usually listened to
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on 78 rpm records. He kept getting
distracted by the hissing sounds from dust and popping sounds from
scratches on the records. So he realized he must create a higher
quality recording device and the CD was born.
NakaMats’
latest project is a revolutionary house that is energy
self-sufficient and has themed rooms that either relax or stimulate
his mind. In his home, NakaMats uses three areas to spark his
creativity:
- First, there is a “static room” with a rock garden and running water to provide a serene background for free thinking.
- Second, there is a “dynamic room” with special audiovisual equipment to play music to refine his ideas.
- Finally, he spends hours underwater each day in his pool jotting brainstorms down on his Plexiglas writing pad.
Dr.
NakaMats’s new home is filled with three hundred of his inventions
and dominated by a home-theater system with a two-hundred-inch
(508cm) screen. The home also features white NakaMats floor tiles
with special energy-regulating properties to keep the room’s
heating and cooling to a minimum.
Dr.
NakaMats is also an idea promoter. He can be seen on Japanese
television demonstrating his “Bouncing Shoes” to improve athletic
performance or his “Perfect Putter” that is almost guaranteed to
hit that little white golf ball into the hole.
There’s
a “techie” adage in Asia that the nail that stands up in Asia
gets hammered down, while the nail that stands up in Silicon Valley
drives a Ferrari and has stock options. Having developed a complete
ideation process of freedom, expression, creation, and action, Dr.
NakaMats is a nail that keeps standing taller with each new
invention.
Now
here is my interview with Dr. NakaMats, in which he describes his
unique theories of creativity and freedom. The Interview
NakaMats:
In
my country, the drive to succeed—and the competition—is
unbelievably intense. From early on, Japanese children are under
enormous pressure to learn. I was fortunate that my parents
encouraged my natural curiosity, along with my academic learning from
the very beginning. They gave me the freedom to create and
invent—which I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember.
Chic:
What are the teaching methods used to prepare Japanese children for
the strong competition they face? And how does this affect
creativity?
NakaMats:
One method is memorization. We teach our kids to memorize until the
age of twenty, for we have discovered that the human brain needs
memorization up to that point. Then young people can begin
free-associating, putting everything together. That’s how geniuses
are formed. If a child doesn’t learn how to memorize effectively,
he doesn’t reach his full potential.
Chic:
So you feel that creativity comes from a balance of regimentation and
freedom?
NakaMats:
Yes, and freedom is most important of all. Genius lies in developing
complete and perfect freedom within a human being. Only then can a
person come up with the best ideas.
Chic:
We have a difficult time in this country because we don’t allow
ourselves that kind of freedom. We have what we call the Protestant
work ethic that says, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try
again.” To me, trying too hard stifles creativity.
NakaMats:
That’s unfortunate. It’s crucial to be able to find the time and
the freedom to develop your best ideas.
Chic:
Then tell me about your routine to spark creativity. I’ve heard
that you come up with ideas underwater!
NakaMats:
Yes, that’s part of a three-step process. When developing ideas,
the first rule is you have to be calm. So I’ve created what I call
my “static” room. It’s a place of peace and quiet. In this
room, I only have natural things: a rock garden, natural running
water, plants, a five-ton boulder from Kyoto. The walls are white. I
can look out on the Tokyo skyline, but in the room there is no metal
or concrete—only natural things like water, rock and wood.
Chic:
So you go into your “static” room to meditate?
NakaMats:
No, just the opposite! I go into the room to free-associate. It’s
what you must do before meditating, before focusing on one thing. I
just throw out ideas—I let my mind wander where it will.
Chic:
I call that naïve incubation.
NakaMats:
Yes, it’s my time to let my mind be free. Then I go into my
“dynamic” room, which is just the opposite of my “static”
room. The “dynamic” room is dark, with black-and-white-striped
walls, leather furniture, and special audio and video equipment. I’ve
created speakers with frequencies between 12,000 and 40,000
hertz—which, you can imagine, are quite powerful. I start out
listening to jazz, then change to what you call “easy listening,”
and always end with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. For me, Beethoven’s
Fifth is good music for conclusions.
Chic:
And finally you go to your swimming pool . . .
NakaMats:
Exactly—the final stage. I have a special way of holding my breath
and swimming underwater—that’s when I come up with my best ideas.
I’ve created a Plexiglas writing pad so that I can stay underwater
and record these ideas.
Chic:
That seems to fit very well with the strategy I teach in my
creativity workshops: Discover and use your “idea-friendly times.”
NakaMats:
Yes, but in doing this, you must prepare your body. You can only eat
the best foods. You cannot drink alcohol.
Chic:
I’ve heard that you’ve come up with your own “brain food.”
NakaMats:
Yes, these are snacks I’ve invented, which I eat during the day.
I’ve marketed them as Yummy Nutri Brain Food. They are very helpful
to the brain’s thinking process. They are a special mixture of
dried shrimp, seaweed, cheese, yogurt, eel, eggs, beef, and chicken
livers—all fortified with vitamins.
Chic:
How many people—technicians, researchers, and assistants—do you
employ to help with your inventions?
NakaMats:
In all, I have 110 employees.
Chic:
And what exactly do they do?
NakaMats:
They work with my ideas, make prototypes, and give other assistance
with details.
Chic:
Do you come up with ideas at night?
NakaMats:
I come up with ideas anytime! I only sleep four hours a night.
Chic:
That’s interesting—that’s very similar to Thomas Edison. Do you
take naps as he did?
NakaMats:
Yes. Twice a day I take twenty-minute naps in a special chair I’ve
designed—the Cerebrex chair. It improves memory, math skills, and
creativity, and it can lower blood pressure, improve eyesight, and
cure other ailments.
Chic:
How does the Cerebrex work?
NakaMats:
Special sound frequencies pulse from footrest to headrest,
stimulating blood circulation and increasing synaptic activity in the
brain. Twenty minutes in my chair refreshes the brain as much as
eight hours of sleep.
Chic:
So, like Edison, you’re awake most of the time. Do you agree with
Edison’s claim that ideas are 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent
perspiration?
NakaMats:
No, now it’s just the opposite! Now it’s 1 percent perspiration
and 99 percent “ikispiration.” Now, more than ever, we have to
have ikispiration. This means I encourage myself to go through my
three elements of creation: suji—the theory of knowledge;
pika—inspiration; and iki—practicality, feasibility, and
marketability. In order to be successful, you must go through all
three stages and make sure that your ideas stand up to all of them,
which is ikispiration. Also, these days, the computer saves time and
cuts out the 99 percent perspiration.
Chic:
Do you find that most research-and-development firms take themselves
through your three stages?
NakaMats:
Most are very thorough with suji, or theory, but don’t concentrate
on the iki, marketability. Hardest of all, of course, is pika, the
creative inspiration. Researchers often have trouble with pika
because they’re too focused on one particular element. A genius
must be a well-rounded person, familiar with many things—art,
music, science, sports. He or she can’t be restricted to only one
field of expertise.
Chic:
Well, you certainly appear to practice what you preach. You know so
much about music, about art, about sports.
NakaMats:
That’s what genius is, when you’re able to discuss, and to be
good at, many things. As much as I enjoy hearing about the things you
[Chic] have invented during your chemistry career, about your
teaching, about your video programs, I’m most fascinated by the
fact that a person who can be a chemist and a teacher and a speaker
can also be a cartoonist. And at such a young age!
Chic:
Well, people do kid me about looking young, but I could say the same
thing about you.
NakaMats:
That comes from eating the right foods and participating in the right
athletics. Certain activities I believe aren’t good for creativity.
To be creative, you must have perfect freedom. I don’t believe
sports like jogging, tennis, and golf are conducive to the brain
waves for creativity. Swimming is the perfect sport for freedom.
Chic:
Hmm. I know a lot of people who feel they come up with their ideas
when they go out jogging. Maybe, for Americans, because we don’t
allow ourselves to have perfect freedom at work, we can get part of
the way there by jogging or golfing—that’s the only time we give
ourselves permission to be free enough to come up with new ideas.
NakaMats:
Maybe so, but they won’t be your best ideas—you’re not at your
peak creative performance if you have to use athletics or techniques
to get your ideas. It’s only when you have perfect freedom that
your best ideas come out.
Chic:
I’m very impressed by your openness to discuss and to spend so many
hours with me. So many people who have one or two good ideas don’t
share them with anyone. They’re afraid that people are going to
steal them.
NakaMats:
My rationale is very simple: We need to open up the world. We need to
share and interact. I always tell young inventors to forget about the
money and create ideas out of love for benefiting mankind. Love is
the mother of invention. And, by inventions, I don’t just mean
visible inventions. There are invisible inventions, too.
Chic:
Invisible inventions???
NakaMats:
An invisible invention is something you can’t see but you can use.
It’s a new way of teaching something, a new way to spark creativity
in others. Invisible inventions are just as powerful and
far-reaching—if not more so—than visible inventions.
Chic:How
empowering it is to consider a great classroom teacher as an
invisible inventor! Thank you, Dr. NakaMats, for such a wonderful
afternoon. My brain is alive with invisible ideas and I hope that my
sharing this interview will generate the love for mankind that I hear
in your voice. ____________________
Dr.
Yoshiro NakaMats’s Web site is www.nakamats.com
or
http://whatagreatidea.com
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ALSO CHECK OUT THIS SITE:
Dr. Nakamats: Patently Strange | VICE | United States
www.vice.com/video/dr-nakamats-patently-strange--3
It should come as little surprise that Japan, home to the world's most advanced and strangest inventions, would give rise to an inventor like Yoshiro Nakamatsu.
Vice
NOW THAT YOU KNOW
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
Stay Blessed
Gloria
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