The one invention you wouldn’t want to give up-- : telephone? . . . anesthesia? . . . electric guitar? . . .

My recent question of which technological invention I could least do without has been used by a university teacher as the subject of his final exam.

My choice was eyeglasses. Though conceding that life would be harder without the automobile, the electric light, indoor plumbing, refrigeration and anesthetics, I thought being unable to read would be the greatest loss.

John Gregg, who teaches English composition at San Diego State, framed his assignment as follows:

“For Jack Smith, eyeglasses are the one invention he would most hate to give up because not having them would drastically affect his life. Which invention would you most dislike having to give up? Give reasons to support your choice, or discuss what life would be like without it.”

Only two of Gregg’s students chose eyeglasses, though one chose contact lenses and one sunglasses. Well, most young people have not experienced any deterioration of their sight, and so eyeglasses aren’t yet important to them.

The most popular choices were the automobile (12); the telephone (10), indoor plumbing (8), electricity (5) and anesthesia (5).

Inventions receiving at least one vote were the computer, television, radio, the down sleeping bag, the bicycle, the electric guitar, the alarm clock, and the microwave oven.

Of course what makes the question interesting is the different values people assign to various inventions. We can’t quarrel with any choice; yet I wonder at the philosophy of a student who would rather give up indoor plumbing, anesthetics, eyeglasses, and the electric light than his or her down sleeping bag, electric guitar, alarm clock, bicycle or sunglasses.

Those last several choices seem to conjure up a composite picture of a laid-back Southern California youth, bicycling to the beach or backpacking into the mountains with the objects that are dearest to him. But what would he plug his guitar into? And why would he need an alarm clock?

“As well as enjoying the topic,” Gregg says, “the students produced some good essays.”

He enclosed five of those he liked most.

Dan Opre chose the automobile, and eulogized it passionately. “For me personally and for society’s sake, not having the car would change our lives more than the absence of any other invention. . . . Think of how many jobs we wouldn’t have if the car was never invented. Forget about the millions of car company executives, factory workers and dealers who wouldn’t be employed; that’s a small number compared to the men in the giant steel, glass and rubber industries who would be without work. . . . For many people, cars are their pride and joy. For people without families, their car is the most important thing in their lives. . . .”

A moving argument; but I’m not persuaded. What about all the jobs related to the television industry and, more lately, the computer industry?

Lisa Cowart would hate most to give up the telephone: “It is the main line of communication to my friends and without it, my social life would suffer greatly. Out of everything else in my life, I consider my friends to be my greatest assets.”

She said that during a difficult time in her life, “without (the telephone) I would not have experienced the core of loving support my friends were to me. . . . Through their constant communications, mostly by phone, I remained emotionally and mentally stable. . . .”

“The one invention that I don’t believe I would like to give up,” wrote Bonnie Leach, “is indoor plumbing.” She said she visited a brother who lives on a mountain in northern Idaho, without piped water. The outhouse is 50 feet from the house. “I can still feel the fear that came over me if I were out there at night. I’m a city girl. I love the outdoors, but I have never felt such an eerie feeling when I walked into the dark before. . . . There is absolutely no way in my life that I will live for any length of time without an indoor bathroom. . . .”

Kris Merritt has been to the dentist too many times. He chose anesthesia. “Of all modern inventions I’d hate giving up anesthesia the most. . . . Anesthesia makes cavity fillings at least tolerable. I can’t imagine the pain people must have felt before pain killers. . . . As for me, I’m definitely not the natural childbirth type. Anesthesia makes bringing new life into the world a little less painful.”

Audrey Hodges was also one of the eight who chose indoor plumbing. Like Ms. Leach, her choice was fortified by her experience with life in the rough. “Being on my aunt’s farm was like peeling back the years to the 1800s.”

She was awakened at dawn by the rooster, had to milk cows, and then had to pump and heat water and carry it to a shack for her bath. “I’m not sure which was worse--going to the bathroom or trying to wash clothes. . . . I had to use the outhouse. What an experience that was! I had dreams where I fell into the toilet and kept falling, never wanting to and never actually hitting the bottom. I didn’t want to go at night, that’s for sure!”

I feel certain that the students who chose the electric guitar, the down sleeping bag and sunglasses have never lived on a farm. They simply have no idea what it’s like.

And I suspect that all of us, if we were lying naked on the operating table, and the surgeon was bending over us with his scalpel, would suddenly be willing to give up our automobiles, our electric lights, our indoor plumbing and even our eyeglasses for a whiff of anesthetic.