Practice beats knowledge and understanding beats learning every time.<br><br>Perhaps re-phrasing the question wil encourage a new solution - or problem. <br><br>If I list survival needs:<br><br>warm<br>dry<br>fed<br><br>then immediately list gear to satisfy these needs<br><br>fire-starters, candles, trangia stoves, bonfires, solar water heaters <br><br>ponchos, tarps, tents, log-cabins<br><br>fishing gear, slingshots, snares, side-arms / long-arms<br><br>then haven't we missed a few steps? Like why do I need to be warm? What will happen if I am not warm? How does fire work? What are the components and behaviors of fire that I need to understand in order to start one safely, manage it so that it warms me without burning me or something else I need unburnt, and prevent it from suffocating me as we (the fire and myself) compete for the same oxygen? I think that innovation and the ability to innovate come from a deeper understanding of the problem you attempt to innovate around.<br><br>A deeper understanding of the list of basics yeilds the simple innovation that, to a certain extant, they can be substituted for each other in the order listed. If I am not warm I can get warmer if I can get dryer (sheltered), if I can get neither warmth nor shelter I can stay alive if I am well enough fed. (extremes of climate make this a little less true). <br><br>Understanding that fire is the result of properly combining heat, Oxygen, and fuel is all that is needed for a persistent individual to eventually improvise fire.<br><br>Understanding the effects of windchill may lead me to improvise a shelter that blocks the wind even if I don't have anything to water-proof it with. <br><br>Understanding the issues surrounding hygiene may save my life from threats I would otherwise never know of till they killed me. Without this I would never think of boiling my water on an 80 degree day or for that matter I might never attempt to start fire in a summer setting if I don't know that I need to boil my water. <br><br>Understanding something about basic cooling that is demonstrated by boiling water in a paper cup is necessary to the innovative solution of boiling water in a container of birch-bark. Otherwise you might think I can't boil water without a metal container and therefore expose yourself to needless risk.<br><br>Increasing the understanding will replace much of the gear while increasing the skill through practice will render what gear you have much more effective.<br><br>We cannot teach innovation but we can help people to understand why a solution works and what a solution looks like. We can teach problem solving deductive and associative thought in everyday situations. Don't tell your kids the answer to "Why?" rather reply with "Well, why do you think?" and see what you get.