Let us understand how an inventor thinks by studying how Nikola Tesla used to think.

While studying his autobiography, My Inventions, I learned about this great man who has changed the whole course of human race. Some of the interesting points are:

1. The primary objective of an inventor is "the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs. He finds ample compensation in the pleasing exercises of his powers and in the knowledge of being one of that exceptionally privileged class without whom the race would have long ago perished in the bitter struggle against pitiless elements."

2. Tesla wouldn't work under compulsion. According to him, a man can't work his best under rigid rules or time constraints. But "if work is interpreted to be a definite performance in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then I may be the worst of idlers."

3. Tesla had vivid imagination. He would see things and scenes he had never seen or imagined, accompanied by flashes of light. New places, cities, acquaintances. This could be because he would spend his entire waking hours on harnessing his mental powers. Thinking. Visualizing.

4.Tesla needed no models, drawings or experiments. He would visualize with the greatest facility. His mind. His only tool. According to him, his method of mentally visualizing concepts and ideas for various devices was far more efficient and effective than the traditional method of experiments. "The moment one constructs a device to carry into practice a crude idea he finds himself unavoidably engrossed with the details and defects of the apparatus. As he goes on improving and reconstructing, his force of concentration diminishes and he loses sight of the great underlying principle. Results may be obtained but always at the sacrifice of quality."
His method of invention was whenever he would have an idea he would start with building it up in his imagination. He would design, modify and develop the prototype in his mind until he is satisfied with the final product. It is then when he would give it a physical shape which his why the product would be flawless. This is one of the major principle for any kind of creative work. If all of the works are done this way, the development time would be much less and the product far more efficient.

5.Nikola Tesla turned his attention to what was within himself, rather than the without. He would practice self-control and a disciplined life. He practised abstinence throughout his life-time. His reason was that it helped him to think better and focus on invention.



Every advocates of invention should promote the thread.