One Idea That Was Rejected Was a Bunch of Blokes From Liverpool
I told you about Creative Intelligence and New and Visionary Ideas that were rejected in 
yesterday’s article. Because the list is long, I will tell you about more rejections.
It takes creative intelligence – which is a mix of creative and logical thinking and the imagination – to come up with new and visionary ideas. But it takes no creative intelligence whatsoever to reject them. People who reject them are too stuck in a High Density Lifestyle to recognize brilliance.
So let’s examine some more of the things that have become commonplace that were rejected at first.
How Could They Tell Them No?
The Beatles
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” — Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962
Xerox
In 1938 Chester Carlson invented xerography. Virtually every major corporation, including IBM and Xerox, didn’t think much of his idea and rejected it. They felt that since carbon paper was cheap and readily available, no one would buy an expensive copying machine.
U.S. Patent Office
In 1899 Charles Duell, the director of the U.S. Patent Office, suggested that the government close the office because everything that could be invented had been invented.
The Radio
“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” –David Sarnoff’s Associates in rejecting a proposal for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
Talking Pictures
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” –H.M. Warner (Warner Brothers) before rejecting proposal for movies with sound in 1927.
The Airplane
“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” –Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.
Nautilus Machines
“You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can’t be done. It’s just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training.” –Rejection letter to Arthur Jones, who invented the Nautilus Fitness Machine
The Computer
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”– Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
The Personal Computer
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” — Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
Tomorrow I’ll look at where creative ideas come from, and tie it in with ideas from quantum physics.
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