How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery

This chapter deals with the failure and rejection that are inevitable during the creation process. Ashton begins with the story of Judah Folkman, a medical researcher who theorized about starving tumors of their blood source. Before this time, the approach had always been to somehow attack tumors directly in order to kill them (with radiation, chemotherapy, etc.), and so Folkman’s colleagues rejected—even mocked—his ideas. However, he stuck with his theory until he was able to prove that he was right.

Ashton’s main point here is that failure is part of creation. The process is like a marathon one must endure, with failure and rejection built into it. Folkman faced them both before his ideas found vindication, and Ashton emphasizes that this is normal. Creation is like a maze that people need to work their way through by having faith in themselves and their ideas. A common misconception is that people warmly welcome new ideas when in fact the opposite is true. “Unfortunately, anyone who loves your idea the first time they hear it either loves you or wants something. What to expect when you’re inventing is rejection,” Ashton writes (79).

The author presents another example of rejection from early in the 20th century.