The assertion that new inventions should be invented for practical uses, but there are few inventions that are useful to everyone. I disagree. The speaker’s logic is flawed for two reasons.

First, new inventions are by definition useful to other people. Without their discovery, the world would be worse off. The speaker’s statement that there is no point in inventing something that no one needs is contradicted by the fact that they invented something that no one needed in the first place. The wheel was invented long before it was used for practical purposes. After being discovered by the Sumerians, it served the purpose of allowing people to transport heavy loads over difficult terrain. The wheel gave way to heavier vehicles and eventually cars. If a wheel had never come into existence, humans would still be transporting large and heavy objects using primitive methods such as animal power or primitive carts. The wheel was an invention that allowed humanity to move more efficiently. The wheel is a perfect example of an invention that has had multiple uses and benefits. Second, even if there were an invention that had no practical value, it would be useless to ignore it. The inventor would still need to protect his or her intellectual property, at least in a small way. The inventor would have to be able to successfully profit by the invention, even if the initial use was purely recreational. The inventor who develops a product that no one else has thought of, but which people enjoy using, can make money off of it by licensing it, selling copies, or by creating other products based on the same premise. The inventor who develops a product that no one else has thought of, but which people do not want, may have trouble successfully marketing that product and could end up financially ruined.

The speaker’s assertion that there are few inventions that are useful for everyone is also flawed. Every invention has a useful purpose, even if it is not immediately obvious. For example, penicillin, discovered almost 100 years ago, was initially used to treat syphilis. However, it has since been discovered that penicillin is also an effective treatment for some forms of acne, gonorrhea, and MRSA.1The speaker’s logic is flawed because new inventions are by definition useful to other people. Therefore, the speaker’s argument for the usefulness of practical inventions is flawed, since nothing truly new can be invented that is useful to everyone.