Whilst we can easily justify our search for ways to tame nature because of nature’s inherent dangers, in recent history most of our efforts have centered on protecting ourselves from each other. at first glance it isn’t perhaps of great moment why we achieve the discoveries we achieve as long as we achieve them, but there has always been a tension between those who make the discoveries and those who manufacture them. In this tension it has become apparent that what is crucial in human development is not scientific knowledge but the reasons we seek scientific knowledge.
I was immensely impressed by Tim Berners-Lee for not patenting the world Wide Web believing access to knowledge should be free, and it would have been far better for the world if Governments had matched his gift. I am immensely impressed by many achievements across the wide range of scientific advancement except for the fact that weapons are made from just about every single one of them.
I look forward to the time when scientists around the world finally get that the knowledge they seek is too beautiful to be given either to politicians or to capitalists. There is a very easy way to get ideas out to people, just tell them, and people will build their own telephone exchanges, make their own electricity, share their own methodologies and we can get rid of huge corporations whose sole purpose is to exploit ideas.
Ideas have always been too precious to sell.