I've never met an inventor. Have you? I've heard the story of Edison, and I've seen TV commercials aimed at armchair inventors. Still, I've never met a real-life inventor, and I don't know anyone whose profession can genuinely be called "inventing".

There are several professions I'd like to fit into the slot labeled inventor: engineer, industrial designer, product designer, etc. If I stick to the understood definition of inventor — someone whose job is to conceive and build original products — none of these professions quite stay. They are all too specific. Each profession leaves too much empty space in the slot. The term 'inventor' is too big around to hold them.

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