There is a magazine, which name escapes my recall right now, which is dedicated to useful inventions created by farmers. Yes, you read that correctly - farmers. No doubt a few of those fellows have been to college, but that is besides the point I was trying to make.
A cultural and social environment must be conducive to inventiveness for inventions to occurr regularly. A culture and society where individuality is discouraged to the point of criminal punishment is going to find it difficult to conjure innovation.
Our colleges and universities no longer encourage exchanges of ideas as only “preapproved” ideas are allowed on campuses.
But I do not believe colleges, corporation, etc. are so stifling or oppressive that the average "Joe" in a garage is more inventive than the collective power of Universities and Corporations.
Sure, in the back woods and the nooks and cranny's of America's communities, are people willing try new ideas, tinker with new things, etc. Kind of like that cable TV show, "Sons of Guns" where you have a group of guys in a shop who are quite clever redesigning existing small arms. Or NASCAR shops through out America who design innovative ideas to make a car go quicker, etc. and it's pit crews finding new ways to change tires during the race.
But I hardly think those things compare to the army of engineers and scientists who are involved in developing the F-35 or an army of engineers and scientists who develop brand new vehicles and mass produce it on an automated production line.