Thomas Midgley was one of the most successful research scientists in history. Not just one, but two of his ideas have impacted every person in the world. And in large doses. His brilliance was recognized by the numerous prestigious scientific awards he received during his lifetime.
Though he provided many contributions in research, his two most significant were his role in adding lead to gasoline to prevent “knocking” and developing clorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as a relatively safe means for producing refrigeration. The latter were also used in aerosols.
Though both of his designs worked extremely well for their intended purposes, it was their negative unintended consequences that would eventually concern most people.
Adding lead to gasoline did eliminate knocking in cars, but it also meant large doses of lead was being pumped into the atmosphere which eventually would settle on the ground, and then into our food and water supplies. Fears of adverse neurological effects eventually caused lead additives to be removed from gasoline. There are many recent studies that suggest that these concerns were valid.
CFCs also accomplished their purpose, but have been linked with depletion of ozone in the atmosphere. Again, the evidence was substantial and governments banned or highly regulated their use in an effort to stem adverse effects.
Two inventions which accomplished the purpose for which they were created and which seemed excellent at the time proved to be mistakes. They were not just disappointments, they were distasters.
Many of our best plans turn out terrible. Just as these, they have great promise, bring accolades, and even seem to be successes initially; only to sour over time. Only the passing of time shows the true value of what is accomplished – whether something is worthwhile or worthless.
This is even true when our plans don’t go awry, but when they go exactly as intended. Midgley’s ideas were not failures. They were successes. They were considered immediate successes and were even considered successful for the rest of his life. But time has revealed how terrible the ideas really were.
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 speaks to a similar condition:
All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles. When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Throughout the section from where these verses come, Solomon laments the lack of lasting worth he has received from pleasure, riches, laughter, indulgence, hard work, fame and importance. He eventually calls everything futile, or meaningless.
Is everything in this world really meaningless? I don’t think so. In fact, we can each find some degree of meaning even in the very things that Solomon laments. But what this passage depicts is the lack of lasting significance. How do we finding lasting significance?
I suggest that we can learn from the experiences of Thomas Midgley and King Solomon to find lasting significance through 3 considerations:
1. Consider the broader effects of actions.
Midgley was only thinking about how to fix an acute problem related to a combustion engine. Yet his solution had widespread impact. His remedy exposed any person who came near a gasoline engine (which means virtually all people everywhere) to what was deemed unsafe, toxic levels of lead. Had he considered the broader effects of adding lead to gasoline, could he have averted this “unforeseeable” consequence?
2. Consider the permanent effects of actions.
The development of CFCs made refrigeration easier, safer and cheaper, which means that more people now had access to safer food. This was good. But by not sufficiently answering the environmental impact question regarding the compound, his invention created an atmospheric impact that will likely take decades to reverse.
3. Consider the deeper effects of actions.
Solomon pines that he has tried everything and it all proved to be meaningless. But does “trying something” provide someone a valid vantage point to appraise it? Ruling over people is not the same as leading them. Having many lovers does not equate finding true love. Obtaining riches and investing wealth are not the same thing.
If Solomon had considered the deeper effects of his actions, he might have sought deeper significance rather than surface-level success. A deeper life produces a Washington in lieu of a Napoleon; a devoted spouse rather than a Casanova; or a Buffett, not a Madoff.
Regardless of how life’s mistakes or even life’s successes may have left you feeling a little cold, now might be the time for you to begin to find meaning.
If you would you seek a life of significance:
Consider the broader effects of actions.
Consider the permanent effects of actions.
Consider the deeper effects of actions.
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