On the shoulders of giants...

If we hope to further our knowledge, the best chance is standing on the shoulders of the great minds that came before us.

And how can we hope to do so if the ideas, and knowledge, that those giants came upon is out of the grasp by the people?

In many ways, the current state of the copyrights and patent laws do just this. And is even worse when laws are proposed that can hinder even more our ability to freely share, look, and use the existing trove of information and ideas.

No single set of persons, public or private entities, should be able to put any kind of limitations on how information and ideas flow. We all should be able make use of all current knowledge in the way we think is most appropriate. Is also equally important that we are able to share with other the knowledge we have.

The truth is that, no one can be sure where the next breakthrough in any field can come from. New insights can come from anyone. That team, or individual, just need have access to any knowledge to work with.

It's foolish to believe that new knowledge can come just from certain places or individuals. We need to remain open to the fact that it can come from any number of places, and isn't necessary going to come from the usual ones.

If we can spread knowledge far and wide, solutions to current problems can be come by sooner.

At the end, innovation comes when someone sees new ways to do things. So, anyone driven to solve a problem that can't be solved using any current means will be required to innovate. This can be done either by using current knowledge in new ways, or coming by new knowledge.

By limiting who, and how, gets what knowledge we are limiting ourselves. It's foolish, and a waste of time and resources, to have people reinventing the wheel just because they can't share with other people how to do make a wheel.

If knowledge is shared, we all benefit in the long run.