70 | HealthLinksSC.com When Greenville resident H.E. Moore was a student at Fairmont State College in West Virginia in 1981, he received an assignment in his mechanical drafting class to come up with a design that would be useful to any segment of American industry. “I only had a month to finish the assignment,” Moore said. “But, after a week, I still didn’t have anything and was starting to feel the pressure of the deadline.” One morning, however, the solution showed up from nowhere: What if he designed a harness strap on a manual-fill inner tube to keep plane pilots afloat in case they had to make an emergency landing on water? And for shark infested waters, how about adding in a shark-repellent membrane until the pilots could be rescued? “And I ended up getting an A- on the assignment,” Moore recalled. “But all the thinking and concentration didn’t lead to anything. The whole idea just came to me that morning while I was trying to relax for a few moments in the shower.” Moore’s experience is actually quite common. Whether people are trying to figure out a major business deal, solve a knotty problem or just plan a meal for the next day, they tend to come up with their best ideas in the shower, in the bathroom, while trying to sleep or participating in a favorite activity. THE BEST IDEAS PERCOLATE AT UNIQUE TIMES AND PLACES By L. C. Leach III
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjcyNTM1