Serendipity
Over the past 150 years, many
technological advancements, which we often overlook today, were unexpectedly
discovered. These innovations' creators often did not aim for any particular
outcome or accidentally stumbled across them. The tales of these accidental
discoveries have become such an integral part of our collective memory that we
are reminded of them when unexpected, good fortunes befall us. These
serendipitous moments are reminiscent of when George Costanza exclaimed,
"This!" (Seland, 2016).
The discovery of the Microwave Oven
could be called serendipitous. While
working late at Raytheon Corp., Percy Spencer noticed that the candy bar in his
pocket had melted due to a magnetron (a vacuum tube). Upon further
experimentation, like placing popcorn near the tube and seeing it pop, he
developed the idea, leading to Raytheon introducing the first microwave oven in
1947 (Seland, 2016).
The discovery of Penicillin was the
result of an error. Alexander Fleming, a
biologist, took a vacation and left strains of staphylococci or staph in his
lab. Upon his return, he discovered a fungus growing on a culture he had left
out, killing all of the surrounding bacteria in the culture. This accidental
observation and his subsequent experimentation led to the discovery of
penicillin, revolutionizing modern medicine (Seland, 2016).
Velcro is an example of exaptation. Georges de Mestral, while hiking, noticed
burrs clinging to his pants and his dog's fur. Upon closer inspection, he
realized that the hook shape of the burrs would cling to anything loop-shaped.
He worked on this loop and hook concept to develop Velcro. While it initially
failed in the fashion industry, NASA later adopted it to secure flight suits in
zero gravity. This demonstrates how a discovery for one purpose (mimicking
burrs for attachment) was repurposed for an entirely different function
(securing suits in space) (Seland, 2016).
When I think of
"Serendipity," I think of the movie by that name. It is a romantic
comedy film released in 2001 called Serendipity—the movie's theme centers
around fate and the idea of events happening by happy accident. Since watching the movie, I now think of a
happy accident when I hear the word serendipity.
An example of an error that leads to
a discovery is when I put hot pudding on some ice cream. I was supposed to be
the cold instant pudding, but I had bought the wrong kind. It tasted amazing, and I still have it from
time to time.
Exaptation is when something evolves
for one reason but ends up being useful for a different reason later. It is
like when a feature develops for one job but ends up being good for another
job. This reminds me of my mom's story when my parents were dating, and the car
broke down on a mountain. She said my
dad took her gum and used it to plug a hole in a hose, and they made it home.
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