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Herbert Marcuse, in One-Dimensional Man, claims that advanced industrial society is determined by technological progress. In the interest of maintaining that progress, opposition is not permitted. Society finds ways--through language, political structures, and projected attitudes--to contain any qualitative change that would threaten the technological status quo. Since technology generally provides enough people with enough material benefits, they allow this totalitarian control to continue. According to Marcuse, alternative ideas and true dialectical oppositions cannot even be imagined as possibilities. These are topoi to which no one may go.
Prohibition: Do not invent that which contradicts society's goals.

An assistant professor in a department that favors empirical, quantitative studies in communication has published several articles in that vein. She wants to write something theoretical that may even be seen to question the significance of her previous work. She comes up for tenure in two years and she has been told it is to her advantage to have a coherent body of work that contributes to the mission of her department.
Promotion: Invent what is consistent with what you have previously invented. Invent what is compatible with the inventions of those who judge you. Stay in your own territory.

A doctoral student in engineering comes to his university's writing center for help with his dissertation's conclusions and recommendations. He has ideas about what to say, but his advisor does not want him to write them, since the agency that funded the research may read the report and conclude that the project is essentially completed, in which case they may not renew the grant. No amount of discussion with a tutor about invention as a personal, autonomous act--no talk of freewriting or brainstorming or tagmemics--will solve this invention problem.
Prohibition: Do not invent what may jeopardize the funding that sponsored your invention.

In America, McCarthy investigations of alleged Communist activities restricted many people from inventing in certain ways and punished those who dared associate with others who would not abide by the anti-Marxist, anti-Communist dictates. Careers were ruined, books banned, reputations tarnished. In the Soviet Union, a noted researcher, A. R. Luria, had to stop his research programs several times and invent not simply new lines of inquiry but entirely new careers--as a psychologist, a neuropsychologist, then a specialist in mental retardation--because the Soviet government did not approve of what he discovered in his research and prevented him from publishing his findings.
Prohibition: Do not invent what your government does not favor, unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences.

A student is given a choice of topic for a research paper in sociology class. She considers writing about the effects on society if abortion became illegal. She is not sure what she thinks about the matter, but wonders if writing about it might help her decide. A Catholic by birth, she attends a Catholic university. Her professor has not discussed the topic in class, but is rumored to have spoken against pro-choice. The student's grade hovers between B and C; she needs a 3.0 to keep her scholarship. What should she say in her paper? Should she even write about that topic?
Promotion: When in doubt, invent the safest way out.

The need to end World War II led to innovation in physics as applied to the development of nuclear weapons. John F. Kennedy's mandate to put an American on the moon before the Russians led to innovation in space technology. Public concern about the high incidence of cancer channeled funds for medical research into cancer research.
Promotion: If you need support, choose a line of inquiry that fits with the goals of public and private institutions. Necessity is the mother of invention.