According to 20th century folklore, the laws of aerodynamics prove that the bumblebee should be incapable of flight, as it does not have the capacity in terms of wing size or beat per second to fly. Not being aware of scientists 'proving' it cannot fly, the bumblebee succeeds under ‘the power of its own ignorance’.
This folklore has been disproved by other scientists actually testing the theory of bumblebee flight and recalculating how a bee takes flight.
But its an interesting piece of folklore to think that the bumblebee doesn't know any better and flies anyway. Isn't that how we should approach most things? Don't listen to the naysayers that tell you that you can't do this or you can't be that because of some supposed limitation you have.
Why not always try? Most successful people didn't listen to those that told them they can't, they did it anyway. You won't go to your grave with the things that you failed at on your mind, you'll go to your grave with the regrets you take with you – the things you didn't try.
1 response so far ↓
1 Ben // Nov 10, 2009 at 11:06 am
It also shows how we often assume that what we don’t understand, or know how works, must not work.
Ben´s last blog ..Tales of Monkey Island
Leave a Comment