Innovate. Procreate.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2013
In a recent round-table session, the concept of ‘ideas’ was discussed and the question of whether ideas could in fact be stolen, and if so – is that a bad thing – was debated.
Two related thoughts were put forth. The first was from Henry D. Thoreau’s book Walden (1854).
“Be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.” (p. 343)
The other was Matt Ridley’s, The Rational Optimist (Review by Salinas), presented in his TedTalk (July 2010):
“It’s the interchange of ideas, the meeting and mating of ideas… that is accelerating the rate of innovation.”
The arguments simmered down to that while Thoreau’s Walden bravely postulated that we should not be afraid of being open to whole continents of new thoughts, the information society makes it possible for us to create whole villages of Walden huts, where the assumption is that the more open environment for the sharing of information and ideas, the better for all.
It seems like this no doubt could accelerate the speed of innovation and progress in our societies as Ridley suggests. But how to combine this open culture in a cooperative and non-stifling manner with the possibility of securing intellectual property rights (IPRS WTO), will be another point of discussion in the future.