ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 25, 1995 TAG: 9512260039
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-9 EDITION: HOLIDAY
DATELINE: CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
SOURCE: Associated Press
INVENTORS bring prosperity to the country and - apparently more often than people realize - to themselves, according to economists.
Most people think inventors are old, eccentric and underpaid, a survey released Sunday says. But they can't imagine living without cars, light bulbs and telephones.
Economists like Lester Thurow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology worry that such perceptions about inventors will discourage people from being innovative, with serious consequences for American competitiveness.
``What people don't realize is that corporations like Microsoft began with an idea and an invention,'' said Thurow, professor of management and economics at MIT's Sloan School of Management.
``Inventors drive our economy and help maintain America's status as a world leader,'' Thurow said.
The nationwide telephone survey of 1,005 adults was conducted Nov.15-19 by the Lemelson-MIT Prize, a program based at Sloan that annually awards $500,000 to an outstanding American inventor.
``We want to show that invention is in fact a path to prosperity,'' said Annemarie Amparo, the program's manager. ``We want people to pursue careers in science, engineering and entrepreneurship because these are the careers that are so integrally tied to the economic competitiveness of our country.''
Nearly half the 1,005 adults polled believed inventors were eccentric. About a third thought inventors were old and only 16 percent said they thought of inventors as being rich.
Survey respondents did, however, appreciate inventions - in particular, the automobile and electricity.
The majority - 63 percent - said that they could not live without their car, followed by the light bulb at 54 percent and the telephone at 42 percent.
Television followed at 22 percent, aspirin, 19 percent, and the microwave oven at 13 percent. The personal computer and hair dryer were tied at 8 percent.
More women than men said the telephone was the most important invention, while more men than women voted for the personal computer.
The poll's margin of error was 3 percentage points.
David Michaelson, president of the polling and research firm that conducted the survey, said he wasn't worried that negative perceptions would discourage future inventors.
``There's something about the guy in the garage inventing flubber,'' Michaelson said, referring to the 1961 film ``The Absent-Minded Professor,'' which starred Fred MacMurray. ``They're not going to stop because somebody else doesn't think it's cool.''
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB